Sarcoma and Bone Cancer Care
Renowned expertise for sarcoma and bone cancer
Soft tissue sarcomas and primary bone cancers are rare, accounting for less than 1% of all cancers. Soft tissue sarcoma starts in connective tissue, such as blood vessels, fat cells, lymph vessels, muscle, nerves and tendons. Primary bone cancer, of which there are many kinds, starts in the bones. In adults, cancers that spread to the bones from other organs (known as metastatic bone disease) are much more common than primary bone cancers.
This year in the United States, it’s estimated about 13,400 new soft tissue sarcomas will be diagnosed along with 3,970 primary bone cancers. At The University of Kansas Cancer Center, the region’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, our team of internationally renowned sarcoma and bone cancer experts can provide immediate and accurate diagnosis of these uncommon and complex cancers.
Our sarcoma and bone cancer specialists focus exclusively on bone tumors and soft tissue sarcomas, providing innovative reconstructive and limb-preservation techniques with the goal of maintaining physical function and quality of life. We provide a personalized approach to bone cancer and sarcoma diagnosis and care as we design a treatment plan that is right for you. This ensures our pediatric, adolescent and adult patients receive the most advanced and appropriate methods to treat their specific type of bone cancer or sarcoma.
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Why choose The University of Kansas Cancer Center
The University of Kansas Cancer Center is part of a nationwide network of select cancer research centers established by the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers achieve patient outcomes that are 25% better than those of other centers. Here, patients receive precision cancer therapies based on their genetic, environmental and lifestyle characteristics from internationally renowned bone cancer and sarcoma experts. As an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, we offer access to nationally sponsored and investigator initiated clinical trials.
Interdisciplinary bone cancer and sarcoma care
Our interdisciplinary sarcoma and bone cancer clinic includes specialists in medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, oncology rehabilitation, interventional radiology and sarcoma and bone cancer pathology. Our sarcoma and bone cancer conference, where multidisciplinary specialists create and coordinate treatment strategies for each patient, meets regularly. In addition, we are dedicated to clinical research that propels sarcoma and bone cancer diagnosis and treatment forward, leading to improved outcomes for patients.
Nationally and internationally recognized care
We are 1 of fewer than 60 NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers nationwide. NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers are the backbone of innovative research and patient care across the country. We treat patients from across the U.S. and around the globe at our 14 locations throughout Kansas City. Since 2012, we have diagnosed and treated patients from 50 states and 26 countries.
Alex Goodwin: Still growing
Alex Goodwin traveled from England to receive lifesaving treatment at The University of Kansas Cancer Center’s Sarcoma Center. Alex, who was 9 at the time, suffered from Ewing sarcoma and had been misdiagnosed multiple times and given only months to live. Our sarcoma and bone cancer experts removed Alex’s diseased right femur, hip and knee joints and replaced them with a growing prosthetic bone. Watch Alex’s story.
Alex Goodwin: It's so rough that sometimes I feel like my dreams shatter up into tiny pieces. It's so hard on me.
Narrator: At just nine years old, Alex Goodwin was in the fight of his life after being diagnosed with bone cancer. He underwent chemotherapy treatments which were not enough to kill the cancer.
Dr. Rosenthal: Alex had a cancer, a very rare cancer, actually called a Ewing sarcoma. It involved the entire femur, the entire thigh bone, all the way from the hip all the way down to the knee.
Narrator: That's when Alex and his parents traveled from the UK to receive lifesaving treatment here at The University of Kansas Cancer Center where Dr. Howard Rosenthal replaced Alex's existing bone with a grower bone.
Dr. Rosenthal: And then we put in a noninvasive growing, or expandable, prosthesis. This is an artificial femur.
Narrator: This technology allows doctors to adjust the prosthesis, noninvasively, to grow as Alex grows. Now, nearly two years after the procedure, Alex has his spirit and his hair back.
Alex Goodwin: I think it's great. I used to be like Dad's hair, but now it's a lot straighter.
Jeff Goodwin: The ultimate goal is obviously to get him walking independently again, which is completely apart from where we were [inaudible 00:01:18] going to save his life. So it's amazing.
Maria Goodwin: And it is hard to watch for me, as a parent, for my husband as well, but it has to be done. That is the only way. There's no point having a new leg if he's not going to use it.
Narrator: Finally, up and out of his wheelchair, Alex was able to show Dr. Rosenthal how he is starting to walk, even without crutches.
Dr. Rosenthal: ... down. Push down hard.
Dr. Rosenthal: He's a champion. He made it through. His disposition is always amazing. We come out of seeing him and we just have a smile on our face.
Alex Goodwin: I just want to have a normal life like everybody else when this is all over and I can walk. And I will feel like I don't have a mechanical bone, I will just feel like I have a normal human bone.
Maria Goodwin: And Dr. Rosenthal seems to be happy with what we've done, so we are going to step it up again and continue, because at the end of the day, he's got to run down that beach one day. It's a big dream.
Back on his feet with bionics
Curt Melin, 55, thought he was facing amputation of his right leg after being diagnosed with sarcoma, a type of bone cancer, that was wrapped around the right side of his pelvis and hip joint. But thanks to some creative thinking, our sarcoma and bone cancer experts put Curt back on his feet with a custom 3D-printed titanium pelvis. Read Curt’s story.
Rotationplasty to the rescue
Wyatt Oshel was 6 when he was diagnosed with a malignant bone cancer called osteosarcoma. Thanks to an innovative surgical procedure, known as rotationplasty, our sarcoma and bone cancer specialists made sure this active little boy can keep up with his brother and sister and live a surprisingly normal life. Read Wyatt’s story.