Epidemiology

Soft-tissue sarcomas (STSs) make up approximately 1% of all adult malignancy and 15% of pediatric malignancy.[11]

The American Cancer Society estimates 1,3590 new STSs will be diagnosed in 2024 (7700 men and 5890 in women).[12]

Incidence rates of STS appear to vary by sex.[13]​ One retrospective population based study reported that incidence rates are higher for men than women (8.21 and 5.5, respectively, per 100,000 in the 2017 to 2018 cohort). Higher incidence rates were consistently demonstrated for the men in each age group, approaching a statistically significant difference for ≥80-year-olds (18.37, 95% confidence interval [CI]=12.88, 23.86 per 100,000 for men compared with 5.80, 95% CI=3.53, 8.07 for women).[14]​ 

In the US overall 5-year survival rate for STSs has been reported at 65% between 2010 and 2016, although this is a generalization and individual sarcoma types can have very different outcomes.[15]​​

In the UK overall survival for all STSs has been reported at approximately 85% at one year, and 70% at 5 years between 2013 and 2017. Vascular tumors have the poorest prognosis with a 5-year survival rate of 39%; patients with GIST have an 86% 5-year survival rate.[16]​ Survival rates have been demonstrated to be slightly higher for men than women, 68% compared with 62%, respectively.[16]

Survival rates may also be influenced by ethnicity. Results of a retrospective analysis of bone and STS using the SEER database suggest that ethnicity is an independent risk factor for death in Native American/Alaska Native and Black patients with sarcoma.[13] Native American/Alaska Native individuals had the lowest 5-year survival rate (70.9%, 95% CI 63.8% to 78.0%; overall survival rate of 58.4%, 95% CI 49.0% to 67.8%) followed by black patients (5-year survival rate: 72.9%, 95% CI 71.3% to 74.5%; overall survival rate of 65.4%, 95% CI 63.2% to 67.6%) compared with white patients (5-year survival rate: 76.8%, 95% CI 76.2% to 77.4%; overall survival rate of 69.1%, 95% CI 68.1% to 70.1%).[13]

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