Routes to Diagnosis for Suspected Sarcoma: The Impact of Symptoms and Clinical Findings on the Diagnostic Process
Table 1
Patient and tumor characteristics of 545 patients referred to the Cancer Patient Pathway for sarcomas.
Benign tumors
Other malignancies
Sarcomas
Age
Median (IQI)
52.0 (36.0–64.0)
68.5 (55.5–75.0)
55.0 (44.0–70.0)
Gender distribution
Female ( (%))
181 (48.3)
31 (45.6)
48 (47.1)
Male ( (%))
194 (51.7)
37 (54.4)
54 (52.9)
Tissue type
Soft tissue ( (%))
255 (68.0)
40 (58.8)
88 (86.3)
Bone ( (%))
120 (32.0)
28 (41.2)
14 (13.7)
Tumor size
Median (IQI)
3.2 (2.0–5.5)
3.8 (2.6–6.5)
5.75 (4.0–9.0)
Mean (SD)
4.4 (4.0)
5.4 (4.1)
7.2 (5.8)
Size over 5 cm ( (%))
123 (32.8)
26 (38.2)
63 (61.8)
Size under 5 cm ( (%))
232 (61.9)
35 (51.5)
33 (32.4)
Missing
20 (5.3)
7 (10.3)
6 (5.9)
Geographic area
Aarhus Municipality ( (%))
117 (31.2)
11 (16.2)
15 (14.7)
Rest of Jutland area ( (%))
258 (68.8)
57 (83.8)
87 (85.3)
Tumor depth for soft tissue tumors
Subcutaneous ( (%))
108 (42.4)
25 (62.5)
34 (38.6)
Subfascial ( (%))
147 (57.6)
15 (37.5)
54 (61.4)
Age significantly differed between groups, Gender did not differ significantly between groups, Measured on diagnostic MRI or CT for most patients. If this procedure was not performed, size was measured by pathology report if the tumour was removed. If tumor was not removed, size was measured by ultrasound if this was performed or by clinical measurement.
