Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas

When your child is diagnosed with sarcoma, they deserve care from experts who offer the best opportunity for a healthy, happy life.

At Atrium Health Levine Children’s, our pediatric oncologists have seen every type of sarcoma in every type of child. This gives us the expertise to understand your child’s condition and match them with innovative treatments, designed to target cancer and stop it from coming back.

About bone and soft tissue sarcomas

Sarcomas are tumors that start in bones or in soft tissues, like muscles, fat and nerves. We treat many types of sarcomas, including:

Bone sarcomas

• Osteosarcoma – A common pediatric bone cancer that usually starts in a child’s arms or legs
• Ewing's sarcoma – A cancer that starts in bones or soft tissue, often in the legs, hips, ribs, arms or spine

Soft tissue sarcomas

• Rhabdomyosarcoma – A soft tissue sarcoma that usually starts in the muscles of the head, neck, arms or legs
• Infantile fibrosarcoma – A tumor that starts in the tissues in the arms and legs, most often affecting children under a year old
• Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor – A cancer that grows in the lining that covers nerves
• Synovial sarcoma – A rare soft tissue sarcoma that usually starts near joints and tendons in a child’s arms and legs

Bone and soft tissue sarcomas – what to expect from Levine Children's

Here’s why families come to Levine Children’s for bone and soft tissue sarcoma care:

• Top pediatric oncologists. We’re home to some of the nation's leading pediatric cancer doctors, who have vast experience with all types of bone and soft tissue sarcomas.
• A comprehensive care team. At Levine Children’s, your child sees a team of pediatric specialists who are on a mission to help them overcome cancer – and the stress and changes that go with it. Our care team includes surgeons, orthopedic oncologists, radiation oncologists, child psychologists and other experts. We also pair each family with a nurse navigator who helps with everything from scheduling appointments to understanding treatment plans.
• Access to the latest therapies. We evaluate each child and create a personalized care plan that uses the latest, most effective treatments. We offer everything from highly precise radiation treatments to clinical trials of promising new therapies.
• Support from the Isabella Santos Foundation (ISF). This foundation’s generous donations enable us to acquire tools and technologies that help our doctors fight cancer. Many of these technologies are so new they’re only available at a small number of hospitals. ISF also helped Levine Children’s create the Isabella Santos Rare and Solid Tumors Program, which offers innovative therapies to children with solid tumors and pursues new therapies that could make care even better.
• Seamless care from childhood to adulthood. Cancer and its treatments can have a lifelong impact. That’s why we transition patients into our adult program at Levine Cancer Institute when they turn 26. This lets patients stay in a hospital organization that knows them and that their families know and trust.

Treatment for bone and soft tissue sarcomas

We offer leading-edge treatments including:

• Surgery to remove cancerous tissue. Our pediatric surgeons use special techniques to preserve healthy tissue around the cancers they take out.
• Chemotherapy, or medicine that can shrink tumors and kill cancer cells. We offer outpatient chemotherapy to as many children as possible. This lets them receive chemotherapy in the comfort of their own homes. Orthopedic oncologists, doctors who specialize in treating bone and soft tissue cancers, are also highly involved in surgery and chemotherapy, ensuring kids get the best possible care.
• Radiation therapy, where doctors use high-energy rays to destroy cancer cells. We often use radiation therapy to shrink a tumor before surgery or to try to keep cancer from coming back after surgery.