Toyama University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center　

The Sarcoma and Rare Cancer Center provides treatment for sarcoma and rare cancers. “Rare cancer” encompasses types of malignant tumors that occur infrequently, with few known cases; as a result, diagnosis, therapy, and other aspects of treatment can prove more challenging than for other, more common types of cancer. The term collectively refers to cancers that occur in fewer than six people out of 100,000. There are over a hundred types of cancer, including sarcoma; glioma; neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, and other organs; skin tumors such as malignant melanoma; ocular tumors such as retinoblastoma and malignant choroidal melanoma; and malignant lymphoma. Consequently, while each of these cancers is rare, they collectively account for some 15–20% of all cancer cases.
Sarcoma is a type of rare cancer that develops from non-epithelial cells (supportive tissue) in bones, or in soft tissue such as muscle, fat, or blood vessels. Sarcoma is exceptionally uncommon, accounting for no more than 1% of all malignant tumors. In addition, there are over 100 different types of sarcoma.
Sarcoma and rare cancers can develop in various sites and tissues throughout the body, in both young and elderly patients. As a result, there can be many challenges when it comes to diagnosis, and various different therapies may be necessary. These characteristics often make it difficult to diagnose or provide treatment for these diseases at facilities that do not specialize in them.
In order to achieve favorable therapeutic outcomes for rare cancers, it is crucial to provide multidisciplinary treatment tailored to each individual patient’s condition, with specialists well versed in diagnosis and treatment in fields such as internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, radiology, pathology, and clinical oncology to work closely together, transcending individual medical departments. These favorable outcomes necessitate consistent treatment by a unified team of specialists, from initial treatment through advanced stages. For patients, it can be difficult to find information about their rare cancer, or find a medical institution that provides treatment for it.
At the Sarcoma and Rare Cancer Center, we aim to provide patients with accurate medical information, as well as to provide accurate diagnosis and treatment that transcends individual medical departments.

Sarcoma Cancer Board

Sarcoma is a type of cancer that can develop anywhere in the body: some 25% of all sarcomas develop within bones, while the remaining 75% are soft tissue sarcomas. Though sarcoma develops only rarely, histopathological diagnoses (microscopic examinations of pathological tissue) have led to the categorization of over a hundred types each of bone and soft tissue sarcomas. Because this sheer variety can make diagnosis difficult, the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and the Department of Pathology hold case conferences.

Brain Tumors

Neurosurgery — Department of Neurosurgery
To Our Patients