Soft tissue sarcoma incidence statistics

Cases

New cases of soft tissue sarcoma, 2010, UK

Age

Age that 4 in 10 of soft tissue sarcoma cases are diagnosed, 2008-2010, UK

Trend over time

Soft tissue sarcoma incidence rates have increased since the late 1990s, UK

In 2010, there were 3,272 new cases of STS (all subtypes combined) in the UK: 1,660 (51%) in males and 1,612 (49%) in females.[1] The crude incidence rate Open a glossary item shows that there are 54 new STS cases for every million males in the UK, and 51 for every million females.[1] Males in the UK have a similar risk of developing STS compared with females; the male:female incidence ratio of European age-standardised rates (AS rates) Open a glossary item, which account for differing male and female age distribution and population sizes, is 11:10.

The European age-standardised incidence rates (AS rates) do not differ significantly between the constituent countries of the UK.[1]

Soft Tissue Sarcoma (All Subtypes Combined), Number of New Cases, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Incidence Rates per Million Population, UK, 2010

England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland UK
Males Cases 1,408 97 120 35 1,660
Crude Rate 54.7 65.9 47.4 39.6 54.2
AS Rate 47.8 53.8 41.2 37.6 47.3
AS Rate - 95% LCL 45.3 43.2 34.1 26.1 45.0
AS Rate - 95% UCL 50.5 66.5 49.7 52.6 49.7
Females Cases 1,332 104 129 47 1,612
Crude Rate 50.3 67.7 47.9 51.4 51.0
AS Rate 41.9 53.0 38.2 47.5 42.3
AS Rate - 95% LCL 39.6 42.6 31.6 34.6 40.1
AS Rate - 95% UCL 44.4 65.6 46.0 64.1 44.5
Persons Cases 2,740 201 249 82 3,272
Crude Rate 52.5 66.9 47.7 45.6 52.6
AS Rate 44.9 53.4 39.7 42.5 44.8
AS Rate - 95% LCL 43.2 46.0 34.8 33.9 43.2
AS Rate - 95% UCL 46.7 62.4 45.5 53.7 46.4

95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits Open a glossary item around the AS rate Open a glossary item

A fifth of all STS cases diagnosed in the UK are sarcoma Open a glossary item not otherwise specified (NOS, 20%) – cases where the pathologist reporting the case, or the cancer registry recording the tumour, did not enter a specific morphological soft tissue sarcoma sub-type.[1] Almost a fifth of cases (18%) are leiomyosarcoma, while fibroblastic sarcoma and liposarcoma account for 14% and 13% respectively. The remaining 34% of STS cases is comprised of eight other morphological groups, including one group which is itself comprised of 42 morphologies which cannot be assigned to a larger sub-group (rare soft tissue sarcoma variants). Crude incidence rates Open a glossary item range from 0.0 (malignant phyllodes tumour – tumours of breast tissue which are extremely rare in men) to 11 (sarcoma NOS) cases for every million males in the UK, and from 1 (soft tissue Ewing sarcoma, nerve sheath tumour, Kaposi sarcoma, synovial sarcoma) to 11 (leiomyosarcoma) cases for every million females.[1]

European AS incidence rates Open a glossary item are significantly higher in males than females for five of the 12 STS subtypes (liposarcoma, fibroblastic sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, Kaposi sarcoma, sarcoma NOS). In a further five subtypes (soft tissue Ewing sarcoma, synovial sarcoma, vascular sarcoma, nerve sheath tumours, rare soft tissue sarcoma variants) rates do not differ significantly between the sexes. Rates are significantly higher in females than males for leiomyosarcoma and malignant phyllodes tumour only.[1]

Soft Tissue Sarcoma Subtypes, Number of New Cases and European Age-Standardised (AS) Incidence Rates per Million Population, UK, 2008-2010

  Male Female Persons
Cases AS Rate (95% LCL- 95% UCL) Cases AS Rate (95% LCL- 95% UCL) Cases AS Rate (95% LCL- 95% UCL)
Leiomyosarcoma 248 6.8 (6.3 - 7.3) 355 9.5 (8.9 - 10.1) 603 8.1 (7.8 - 8.5)
Liposarcoma 275 7.9 (7.4 - 8.5) 163 4.4 (4.0 - 4.8) 438 6.2 (5.8 - 6.5)
Fibroblastic sarcoma 245 7.1 (6.6 - 7.6) 214 5.9 (5.4 - 6.4) 459 6.5 (6.1 - 6.8)
Rhabdomyosarcoma 72 2.5 (2.2 - 2.9) 49 1.7 (1.4 - 2.0) 121 2.1 (1.9 - 2.3)
Soft tissue Ewing sarcoma 19 0.7 (0.5 - 0.9) 21 0.7 (0.5 - 0.9) 40 0.7 (0.6 - 0.8)
Synovial sarcoma 39 1.3 (1.0 - 1.5) 42 1.3 (1.1 - 1.6) 81 1.3 (1.1 - 1.5)
Vascular sarcoma 60 1.6 (1.3 - 1.8) 86 2.0 (1.8 - 2.3) 146 1.8 (1.6 - 2.0)
Karposi sarcoma 125 3.9 (3.6 - 4.4) 27 0.8 (0.6 - 1.0) 152 2.4 (2.2 - 2.6)
Nerve sheath tumour 43 1.3 (1.1 - 1.6) 36 1.0 (0.9 - 1.3) 80 1.2 (1.0 - 1.3)
Malignant phyllodes tumour 0 0.0 (0.0 - 0.1) 62 1.7 (1.5 - 2.0) 62 0.9 (0.7 - 1.0)
Rare soft tissue sarcoma variants 189 5.4 (5.0 - 5.9) 232 6.1 (5.6 - 6.6) 421 5.8 (5.4 - 6.1)
Sarcoma NOS 339 9.2 (8.6 - 9.8) 322 7.7 (7.2 - 8.2) 661 8.5 (8.1 - 8.9)

95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits Open a glossary item around the AS rate Open a glossary item

See also

Find out more about the definitions and evidence for this data

Cancer incidence statistics for common cancers in the UK

References

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

About this data

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

Last reviewed:

Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) (all subtypes combined) 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 men and women. In the UK between 2008 and 2010, an average of 43% of cases were diagnosed in men and women aged 65 years and over, but almost 1 in 10 (9%) were diagnosed in the under-30s.[1]

Age-specific incidence rates rise steadily from childhood, increasing more rapidly from around age 55-59 in men, but continuing at a similar pace throughout in women. Rates are slightly higher in 0-4 year-olds than in older children, due to the incidence of rhabdomyosarcoma in this age group. Incidence rates are similar for males and females in most age groups, though in the oldest age groups (75-79 and older) male rates are significantly higher than female rates. Female rates overtake male rates (though the difference is not significant) for a short period of early middle age, due to the incidence of gynaecological sarcoma at this time.[1]

Soft Tissue Sarcoma (All Subtypes Combined), Average Number of New Cases per Year and Age-Specific Incidence Rates, UK, 2008-2010

The age profile of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) cases in the UK varies markedly by subtype. For example, people aged 60 years and over comprise around 74% of vascular sarcoma cases, but only around 43% of malignant phyllodes tumour cases.[1] Around two thirds (67%) of sarcoma not otherwise specified (NOS) cases are in people aged 60 and over, probably because older people are less likely to have surgery, meaning pathological samples required to identify the specific morphology sub-type are not collected.[2]

Age-specific incidence rates increase with age in most soft tissue sarcoma (STS) subtypes, with the steepest rise for vascular sarcoma (males and females), and slowest rises for liposarcoma (males) and fibroblastic sarcoma (females). Rates peak in the 80+ age group for most subtypes, but peak in the 60-69 age group for liposarcoma and malignant phyllodes tumours in females (the latter probably because this age group is routinely invited for breast screening in the UK), and in the 70-79 age group for leiomyosarcoma and rare soft tissue variants in females, and liposarcoma in males.[1]

Incidence rates are similar between males and females in most age groups for most subtypes, though the sex ratios vary. In the few age groups and subtypes with significant sex differences, rates are typically higher in males than females; the exception is leiomyosarcoma, where rates are higher in females than males in the 0-49 and 50-59 age groups.[1]

Soft Tissue Sarcoma Subtypes, Age-Specific Incidence Rates per Million Population, UK, 2008-2010

Fibroblastic Sarcoma

Leiomyosarcoma

Liposarcoma

Malignant Phyllodes Tumour

Rare Soft Tissue Sarcoma Variants

Sarcoma Not Otherwise Specified

Vascular Sarcoma

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. Data were provided by Public Health England Knowledge and Intelligence Team (West Midlands) on request.
  2. Gadgeel SM, Harlan LC, Zeruto CA, et al. Patterns of care in a population-based sample of soft tissue sarcoma patients in the United States. Cancer 2009;115(12):2744-54.

About this data

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

Last reviewed:

Improved diagnostic techniques and more accurate recording within the cancer registries has impacted on soft tissue sarcoma (STS) incidence rates over time.[1] Because of this, long-term trends are not reliable, so in this section trends are presented from 1996 onwards. Trends vary markedly by STS subtype, perhaps in part because the impact of diagnosis and coding changes also varies with subtype.

STS (all subtypes combined) incidence rates have increased overall in the UK since the mid-1990s.[2] For males, European age-standardised Open a glossary item(AS) incidence rates increased by 18% between 1996-1998 and 2008-2010. The rise is slightly smaller for females, with rates increasing by 14% between 1996-1998 and 2008-2010. Over the last decade (between 1999-2001 and 2008-2010), incidence rates have increased by 17% in males, but have not changed significantly in females.

Soft Tissue Sarcoma (All Subtypes Combined), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, UK, 1996-2010

Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) (all subtypes combined) incidence rates have increased overall for some of the broad age groups in the UK since the mid-1990s, and have remained stable for others.[2] In people aged 49 and under, and those aged 60-69, European AS incidence rates increased by 18% and 22%, respectively, between 1996-1998 and 2008-2010. In the other broad age groups, rates did not change significantly.

Soft Tissue Sarcoma (All Subtypes Combined), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, by Age, UK, 1996-1998 to 2008-2010

Incidence rates have remained stable for most of the Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) subtypes in the UK since the mid-1990s.[2]

For rhabdomyosarcoma, soft tissue Ewing sarcoma, nerve sheath tumour, and malignant phyllodes tumour, European AS incidence rates Open a glossary item remained stable between 1996-1998 and 2008-2010.[2]

For liposarcoma, fibroblastic sarcoma, rare soft tissue sarcoma variants, and sarcoma not otherwise specified (NOS), European age standardised (AS) incidence rates increased significantly between 1996-1998 and 2008-2010. For synovial sarcoma and Kaposi sarcoma, rates increased between 1996-1998 and 2003-05 and 1996-1998 and 2006-2008 respectively, but have since remained stable. For vascular sarcoma, the absolute increase in rates was not quite statistically significant.

The size of the increase ranges from 21% (sarcoma NOS) to 103% (rare soft tissue sarcoma variants).[2] In some STS subtypes this increase reflects expansion of the subtype definition; for example once previously non-registerable tumours called atypical lipomatous tumours were included with well-differentiated liposarcoma, liposarcoma incidence rates began to rise.[1]

Conversely, for leiomyosarcoma there has been a significant 24% decrease between 1996-1998 and 2008-2010. This probably reflects narrowing of the subtype definition; in the year 2000 gastro-intestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) were classified separately from leiomyosarcoma in ICD-O-3, and leiomyosarcoma incidence rates began to fall.[1]

Within some STS subtypes, for example liposarcoma and fibroblastic sarcoma, incidence rates of the ‘not otherwise specified’ (NOS) subtype have decreased as rates of other specific subtypes have increased, probably reflecting changes in reporting practice within pathology laboratories which allow more specific coding by cancer registries. There has also been some migration of cases across STS subtypes, for example Ewing sarcoma incidence rates increased during the early- and mid-1990s when the chromosomal translocations characteristics of this subtype were identified. Prior to this; Ewing sarcoma may have been diagnosed as another round cell sarcoma type.[1]

However, increasing incidence of some STS subtypes is probably attributable to changing aetiological factors; for example angiosarcoma (a type of vascular sarcoma) of the breast is increasingly common (though still exceptionally rare), perhaps due to the growing number of women undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer,[3] and Kaposi sarcoma incidence rates have fluctuated in line with HIV infection rates.[1]

Soft Tissue Sarcoma Subtypes, Percentage Change in European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, Persons, UK, 1996-1998 to 2008-2010

See also

Find out more about the definitions and evidence for this data

Cancer incidence statistics for common cancers in the UK

References

  1. National Cancer Intelligence Network. Soft Tissue Sarcoma Incidence and Survival Tumours Diagnosed in England Between 1985 and 2009. London: NCIN; 2012.
  2. Data were provided by Public Health England Knowledge and Intelligence Team (West Midlands) on request.
  3. Monroe AT, Feigenberg SJ, Mendenhall NP. Angiosarcoma after breast-conserving therapy. Cancer 2003;97 (8):1832-1840.

About this data

Data is for: UK, 1996-2010 and 1996-1998 to 2008-2010. See source for ICD codes and other data specifics.

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

Citation

You are welcome to reuse this Cancer Research UK content for your own work.
Credit us as authors by referencing Cancer Research UK as the primary source. Suggested styles are:

Web content: Cancer Research UK, full URL of the page, Accessed [month] [year].
Publications: Cancer Research UK ([year of publication]), Name of publication, Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when reused unaltered): Credit: Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when recreated with differences): Based on a graphic created by Cancer Research UK.

When Cancer Research UK material is used for commercial reasons, we encourage a donation to our life-saving research.
Send a cheque payable to Cancer Research UK to: Cancer Research UK, Angel Building, 407 St John Street, London, EC1V 4AD or

Donate online

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.

Rate this page:

Currently rated: 2 out of 5 based on 9 votes
Thank you!
We've recently made some changes to the site, tell us what you think