Seth's Info

Having read quite a bit about it as of late, I wanted to share some general information on Sarcoma.

Cancer, in general, is the abnormal growth of cells in the body. Each cell in our bodies has 23 pairs of chromosomes. Mutations during cell division (caused by genetics or external damage or factors) can result in abnormal chromosomes that cause rapid cell division and tumor growth. These cells quit obeying the normal rules and keep dividing in an uncontrolled manner. The specific type of cancer is a direct function of the type of cell that went haywire. Carcinoma (tissues that line internal organs & passageways), Sarcoma (soft tissue & bone), and Lymphomas/Leukemias (lymph glands and bone marrow) are general categories of cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with some type of cancer in the lifetime (pretty scary). Men are most likely to suffer from Prostate (1 in 6) or Lung (1 in 13) cancer, and women are most likely to suffer from Breast (1 in 7) or Lung (1 in 18) cancer.

Sarcoma accounts for less than 1% of all cancer, with ~ 10,000 new diagnoses each year in the US. At any one time about 50,000 people are dealing with Sarcoma. Because it is a rarer form of cancer, it is advised that you seek treatment at a cancer center that specializes in sarcoma, such as Sloan Kettering or about a dozen others. There are over 50 types of sarcoma identified -- soft tissue sarcoma can occur in the muscles, fat, blood vessels, tendons, fibrous tissues and synovial tissues (tissues around joints). In my particular case, my original diagnosis was leiomyosarcoma ("lay"-"oh"-"my"-"oh"-"sarcoma"), which means the cancer developed in smooth muscle tissue (in my abdominal muscle). The cancer can spread through the blood stream and metastisize in other parts of the body (as in my case, in the vertebrae). In general sarcoma is very aggressive and has a very high recurrence rate. I've joined a leiomyosarcoma listserve and it is clear that many patients deal with recurrence and multiple tumors and metastatic sites. The good news is that many of these patients have found successful treatment options by working with sarcoma specialists, and many have achieved a "No Evidence of Disease" or NED condition. This is the goal of any motivated sarcoma patient! Surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are often used in parallel (as they will in my case), and there are many clinical trials underway testing experimental drugs. I'm hoping to be able to enroll in a specific clinical trial at Sloan.

There are several good sites that deal with sarcoma:

Sarcoma Alliance
National Leiomyosarcoma Foundation
Leiomyosarcoma Info
Leiomyosarcoma.net

Probably more than anyone wanted to know, but not bad for someone whose last biology class was in 9th grade.

Jenny and I are headed to NYC tomorrow morning, my parents will be in town taking care of the kids. We can be reached via our cell phone and will be back Saturday. I got my Masters degree at George Mason when we lived in DC, so I'm looking forward to Saturday's Final 4 game. Go Patriots!