Where the first surgery matters most.
Soft-tissue and bone sarcomas behave differently from common cancers — they seed along tissue planes. The difference between a cure and a recurrence is frequently decided in operating theatre number one.
What are sarcomas?
Sarcomas are rare — and rarity breeds casual handling: a lump shelled out somewhere without imaging, a pathology report that surprises everyone, a second operation starting from a worse position than the first one faced.
The discipline of this department is wide, compartment-aware excision — removing tumour with a collar of healthy tissue along lines planned on MRI, so the scalpel never plays catch-up.
Bone sarcomas are fought alongside orthopaedic oncology colleagues; desmoids and GIST follow their own rulebooks, honoured accordingly. And when a lump was already removed elsewhere, re-excision is approached without blame and without shortcuts.
● Before any lump surgery anywhere: has sarcoma been ruled out? One question, asked early, saves limbs.
Eight signs a lump deserves respect
Most lumps are innocent. These are the features that separate the ones worth imaging before touching.
- ①A lump growing steadily, week over week.
- ②Any deep lump larger than five centimetres — roughly two inches.
- ③A lump that hurts.
- ④A lump that returned after previous removal.
- ⑤Limb swelling without any injury.
- ⑥A lump sitting deep or fixed, not just skin-deep.
- ⑦A previously removed “fatty lump” whose pathology was never tested.
- ⑧Scheduled for a lump excision anywhere — a pre-operative second opinion is cheap insurance.
Conditions this department treats
◆Limb Soft-Tissue Sarcoma
Wide, compartment-aware excision with limb salvage as the aim.
◆Trunk & Retroperitoneal Sarcoma
Multivisceral resection when tissue planes demand it.
◆Osteosarcoma
With orthopaedic oncology; chemotherapy-first protocols honoured.
◆Ewing Sarcoma
Combined-modality pathways, coordinated centrally.
◆Desmoid Tumours
Watching, medication or surgery — weighed honestly case by case.
◆GIST
Targeted-therapy-first logic; surgery timed to response.
Operations performed here
- ◆Wide compartment-aware excisionMargins designed on MRI before the incision is drawn.
- ◆Limb-salvage surgeryFunction preserved; amputation now exceptional rather than customary.
- ◆Retroperitoneal multivisceral resectionOrgans sacrificed to margins deliberately — never accidentally.
- ◆Re-excision of previously “shelled out” lumpsPlanning that recovers what a first operation missed.
- ◆Coordinated radiotherapy & chemotherapySequenced with oncology around the operation.
- ◆GIST managementMutation-driven therapy first, surgery in its proper supporting role.
From first visit to full recovery
- 10:00
First consultation
Imaging before needles, needles before knives — the sequence is enforced, not suggested.
- 08:12
Biopsy & board
Core biopsy taken along the future incision line; multidisciplinary staging follows.
- 13:26
Margin mathematics
What “wide” really means, drawn and explained; function trade-offs stated openly.
- 09:15
Surgery
Planned excision with reconstruction coordinated in the same anaesthetic.
- 06:04
Day-one rounds
Wound checks, pathology chased personally, mobilisation begun.
- 17:40
Home & surveillance
Local-recurrence scan schedule set, rehabilitation goals written down.
Families usually ask…
Because sarcomas seed along tissue planes, and a casual excision contaminates them. Getting the first operation right prevents the “whoops procedure” that costs function later.
Usually no — limb salvage succeeds in most cases when margins are planned properly. Honesty cuts both ways: when amputation is genuinely the safer course, you will hear it early, not late.
Removing tumour plus a protective cuff of healthy tissue in every direction — measured on MRI and marked before surgery. Simply shelling the lump out leaves microscopic seeds behind.
Yes, but it obeys different rules — targeted tablets often shrink it dramatically, and surgery is timed around drug response rather than rushing to the operating theatre.
Bring the pathology report and scans; we plan re-excision without drama and without blame. Most situations are recoverable — sooner is simply easier than later.