Soft tissue sarcoma statistics

Cases

New cases of soft tissue sarcoma, 2017-19, England

Survival

Survive soft tissue sarcoma for 10 or more years, 1996-2000, England

  • There are around 4,300 new soft tissue sarcoma cases in England every year, that's around 12 every day (2017-2019).
  • Incidence rates for soft tissue sarcoma in the UK are highest in people aged 80-84 (1996-2010).
  • Since 2013-2015, soft tissue sarcoma incidence rates have increased by 5% in England (2017-2019).
  • Most soft tissue sarcomas occur in the limbs.
  • An estimated 11,700 people who had previously been diagnosed with connective and soft tissue sarcoma were alive in the UK at the end of 2010.

See more in-depth soft tissue sarcoma incidence statistics

  • Almost half (45%) of people diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma in the UK survive their disease for ten years or more, it is predicted (1996-2000).
  • Soft tissue sarcoma ten-year survival in the UK is similar in females and males (1996-2000).
  • 7 in 10 people in the UK diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma aged 35-39 survive their disease for five years or more, compared with 3 in 10 people diagnosed aged 85+ (2001-2005).
  • Five-year relative survival for soft tissue sarcoma is generally similar to the European average in the UK. Further details on cancer survival in Europe can be found on the EUROCARE website.
  • For soft tissue cancer, like other cancer sites, survival trends reflect a combination of changes in treatment and stage distribution. These factors themselves can vary by age, sex and deprivation.
  • Further information on treatments for cancer can be found here.
  • Further one-, five- and ten-year survival statistics can be found on the Cancer Statistics Dashboard.

  • A person’s risk of developing cancer depends on many factors, including age, genetics, and exposure to risk factors (including some potentially avoidable lifestyle factors).
  • 100% of Kaposi sarcoma cases in the UK are preventable.

See more in-depth soft tissue sarcoma risk factors

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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.