After Treatment for Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Staying prepared and organized

Even if you’ve completed treatment, it’s still important to be organized and stay on top of your health. Keeping your records and health insurance coverage in order makes it easier to manage follow-up care, future checkups, and any new concerns that might come up.

Keep your health insurance

It’s very important to keep health insurance as a soft tissue sarcoma survivor. It can help cover the cost of follow-up visits, tests, and any care you might need in the future. No one wants to think about cancer coming back, but it’s best to be prepared.

Save your medical records

At some point, you might see a new doctor who doesn’t know your cancer history. Keep copies of your medical records so you can easily share the details of your diagnosis and treatment when needed.

Can I lower my risk of soft tissue sarcoma progressing, coming back, or getting a second cancer?

If you have or have had a soft tissue sarcoma, you probably want to know if there are things you can do that might lower your risk of the cancer growing, coming back, or getting a second cancer, such as exercising, eating a certain type of diet, or taking nutritional supplements. Unfortunately, it’s not yet clear if there are things you can do that will help.

Adopting healthy behaviors such as not smoking, eating well, getting regular physical activity, and staying at a healthy weight might help, but no one knows for sure. Still, we do know that these types of changes can have positive effects on your health that can extend beyond your risk of cancer.

Screening for other cancers

Patients who have completed treatment should also follow the American Cancer Society guidelines for the early detection of cancer.

The Children’s Oncology Group has guidelines for the follow-up of patients treated for cancer as a child, teen, or young adult, including screening for second cancers. These can be found at www.survivorshipguidelines.org.

About dietary supplements

So far, no dietary supplements, including vitamins, minerals, and herbal products, have been shown to clearly help lower the risk of soft tissue sarcoma progressing or coming back. This doesn’t mean that no supplements will help, but it’s important to know that none have been proven to do so.

Dietary supplements are not regulated like medicines in the United States. They do not have to be proven effective or safe before being sold, although there are limits on what they’re allowed to claim they can do.

If you’re thinking about taking any type of nutritional supplement, talk to your health care team. They can help you decide which ones you can use safely while avoiding those that might be harmful.

If the cancer comes back

If the cancer does come back at some point, your treatment options will depend on where the cancer is located, what treatments you’ve had before, and your health. For more information on how recurrent cancer is treated, see Treating Soft Tissue Sarcomas.

For more general information on recurrence, see Understanding Recurrence.

Second cancers after treatment

Some people might develop a new, unrelated cancer after treatment. This is called a second cancer. Survivors of soft tissue sarcoma can get any type of second cancer, but they have an increased risk of these cancers, depending on where the tumor was and the type of treatment used:

• A second, different type of soft tissue sarcoma
• Bone cancer
• Stomach cancer
• Thyroid cancer
• Melanoma of the skin
• Acute myeloid leukemia (AML)

Some second bone cancers might be due to treatment with radiation therapy. Radiation and chemotherapy likely contribute to the cases of leukemia.

Experts do not recommend any additional testing to look for second cancers in patients without symptoms. Let your doctor know about any new symptoms or problems, because they could be caused by the cancer coming back, by a new disease, or by a second cancer.

See Second Cancers in Adults for more information.

Getting emotional support

Some amount of feeling depressed, anxious, or worried is normal when cancer is a part of your life. Some people are affected more than others. But everyone can benefit from help and support from other people, whether friends and family, religious groups, support groups, professional counselors, or others. Learn more in Life After Cancer.