Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors
About Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors
Bone and soft tissue tumors form in the body's connective tissue, which includes bone, cartilage, blood and fat. Some, but not all, of these tumors are malignant or cancerous, meaning they have the ability to spread outside of the primary tumor site to other parts of the body. Malignant tumors are often called sarcomas.
Each sarcoma is named after the normal body tissue type it most resembles. For instance, rhabdomyosarcoma is a cancer (sarcoma) of skeletal muscle (rhabdomyo). Similarly, osteosarcoma is a cancer (sarcoma) of the bone (osteo).
Benign tumors tend to grow in one spot and rarely extend out from that spot to other areas of the body.
