Soft tissue sarcoma incidence statistics

There are 4,295 soft tissue sarcoma cases on average each year in England, a crude rate of 7.7 cases per 100,000 persons (2017-2019).[1]

Around half of soft tissue sarcoma cases in the UK are in females, and around half are in males (1996-2010). Soft tissue sarcoma incidence rates (European age-standardised (AS) rate ) in the UK are significantly lower in females than in males.[2]

Soft tissue sarcoma incidence rates (European age-standardised (AS) Open a glossary item rate ) for persons are similar to the UK average in all UK constituent nations (2010). [2]

See also

Find out more about the definitions and evidence for this data

Cancer incidence statistics for common cancers in the UK

References

  1. NHS Digital. Detailed statistics from the Get Data Out Programme > Sarcoma . Accessed March 2022.
  2. National Cancer Intelligence Network (2013). Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas – UK Incidence and Survival: 1996 to 2010

About this data

Data is for England, 2017-2019. See source for ICD codes and other data specifics. Data for 1996-2010 is used where more recent data does not provide breakdowns by e.g. sex, age, subtype.

Soft tissue sarcomas are defined primarily by their morphology, while most other cancer types are defined primarily by the body part in which they occur. For this reason, soft tissue sarcomas are classified using International Classification of Diseases for Oncology version 3 (ICD-O-3) while most other cancer types are classified using International Classification of Diseases version 10 (ICD-10). Soft tissue sarcoma statistics should therefore not be compared with statistics for other cancer types on the Cancer Research UK website.

Last reviewed:

Soft tissue sarcoma incidence is unusual compared with most cancers because a sizeable proportion of cases occur in children and younger adults; however the highest incidence rates are in older people. In the UK in 1996-2010, incidence rates for soft tissue sarcoma in the UK were highest in people aged 80-84.[1]

See also

Find out more about the definitions and evidence for this data

Cancer incidence statistics by age for all cancers in the UK

References

  1. National Cancer Intelligence Network (2013). Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas – UK Incidence and Survival: 1996 to 2010 .

 

About this data

Data is for UK, 1996-2010. See source for ICD codes and other data specifics. Data for 1996-2010 is used because more recent data does not provide breakdowns by age for all soft tissue sarcomas combined.

Soft tissue sarcomas are defined primarily by their morphology, while most other cancer types are defined primarily by the body part in which they occur. For this reason, soft tissue sarcomas are classified using International Classification of Diseases for Oncology version 3 (ICD-O-3) while most other cancer types are classified using International Classification of Diseases version 10 (ICD-10). Soft tissue sarcoma statistics should therefore not be compared with statistics for other cancer types on the Cancer Research UK website.

Last reviewed:

Soft tissue sarcoma crude incidence rates for females and males combined increased by 5% in England between 2013-2015 and 2017-2019.[1]

Soft tissue sarcoma European age-standardised (AS) incidence rates for females and males combined increased by 15% in the UK between 1996 and 2010.[2]

See also

Cancer incidence statistics for common cancers in the UK

References

  1. NHS Digital. Detailed statistics from the Get Data Out Programme > Sarcoma. Accessed March 2022
  2. National Cancer Intelligence Network (2013). Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas – UK Incidence and Survival: 1996 to 2010.

About this data

Data is for UK, 2008-2010. See source for ICD codes and other data specifics. Data for 1996-2010 is used to indicate a longer historical trend; note this data is not directly comparable with data from 2013-2015 onwards.

Soft tissue sarcomas are defined primarily by their morphology, while most other cancer types are defined primarily by the body part in which they occur. For this reason, soft tissue sarcomas are classified using International Classification of Diseases for Oncology version 3 (ICD-O-3) while most other cancer types are classified using International Classification of Diseases version 10 (ICD-10). Soft tissue sarcoma statistics should therefore not be compared with statistics for other cancer types on the Cancer Research UK website.

Last reviewed:

The largest proportion of soft tissue sarcoma cases occur in the limbs, with slightly smaller proportions in the connective tissue of the trunk, and a much smaller proportion in the gynaecological organs (2008-2010).[1]

A moderate proportion of cases did not have the specific part of the sarcoma recorded.[1]

Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding

See also

Find out more about the counting and coding of this data

References

  1. Data were provided by Public Health England Knowledge and Intelligence Team (West Midlands) on request.

About this data

Data is for: England, 2008-2010. See source for ICD codes and other data specifics.

Last reviewed:

An estimated 11,700 people who had been diagnosed with connective and soft tissue sarcoma between 1991 and 2010 were alive in the UK at the end of 2010.[1]

See also

Soft tissue sarcoma incidence statistics by sex and UK country

What is prevalence?

References

  1. Macmillan Cancer Support and National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service. Cancer Prevalence UK Data Tables. London: NCRAS; 2015.

About this data

Data is for: Great Britain (1991-2010) and Northern Ireland (1993-2010), ICD-10 C49

Last reviewed:

Cancer stats explained

See information and explanations on terminology used for statistics and reporting of cancer, and the methods used to calculate some of our statistics.

Cancer stats explained

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the many organisations across the UK which collect, analyse, and share the data which we use, and to the patients and public who consent for their data to be used. Find out more about the sources which are essential for our statistics.