Sarcoma service

The sarcoma service at The Christie is part of the Greater Manchester and Oswestry Sarcoma Service (GMOSS). GMOSS is one of 15 designated soft tissue sarcoma and one of 5 bone sarcoma services approved by NHS England.

GMOSS diagnoses and treats cancerous (malignant) and benign bone and soft tissue tumours. Because of the rarity of sarcomas, the pathways and treatments can be complex.

The sarcoma service at The Christie offers a comprehensive and multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach to the care of patients with sarcoma. Because of the complexity in treating these cancers, highly specialised experts are needed to guarantee the best possible outcomes.

Every patient’s medical history, scans and pathology (biopsy or tissue sample looked at under the microscope) is reviewed in our weekly MDT meetings and the best individualised treatment options are discussed. This means the patient will see the most appropriate clinical team members.

The Christie sarcoma team provides national and internationally recognised expertise in radiotherapy, systemic anti-cancer treatments (including chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and targeted agents) and certain types of surgery including plastic or reconstructive surgery to all areas of the body. There is also a service of abdominal surgery for particular sarcomas in the retroperitoneum (behind the abdomen and pelvis).

Although the majority of soft tissue sarcomas are located in the extremities (the arms, legs, or over the trunk and abdomen), they can occur in any area of the body. We have strong working links with the other services such as the breast, head and neck, skin, chest, gynaecology, abdominal and retroperitoneal teams.

Tumours can be graded from benign such as fatty lumps or complex fibrous tumours called fibromatosis, through to malignant or cancerous tumours of various grades.

The Christie medical teams work seamlessly with sarcoma specialist nurses, physiotherapists and enhanced supportive care staff to support you and your family through the diagnostic and treatment pathway. When your treatment is completed, we continue to provide regular long-term follow-up.