Stages of Ewing Sarcoma

After Ewing sarcoma has been diagnosed, tests are done to find out if cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body.

The process used to find out if cancer has spread from where it began to other parts of the body is called staging. There is no standard staging system for Ewing sarcoma. The results of the tests and procedures done to diagnose and stage Ewing sarcoma are used to help make decisions about treatment. Treatment is based on whether the cancer is localized, metastatic, or recurrent.

Ewing sarcoma is described as localized, metastatic, or recurrent.

Localized Ewing sarcoma

The cancer is found in the bone or soft tissue where it began and may have spread to nearby tissue, including nearby lymph nodes.

Metastatic Ewing sarcoma

The cancer has spread from the bone or soft tissue where it began to other parts of the body. In Ewing tumor of bone, the cancer most often spreads to the lung, other bones, and bone marrow.

Recurrent Ewing sarcoma

The cancer has recurred (come back) after it has been treated. The cancer may come back in the bone or soft tissue where it began or in another part of the body.

There are three ways that cancer spreads in the body.

Cancer can spread through tissue, the lymph system, and the blood:

• Tissue. The cancer spreads from where it began by growing into nearby areas.
• Lymph system. The cancer spreads from where it began by getting into the lymph system. The cancer travels through the lymph vessels to other parts of the body.
• Blood. The cancer spreads from where it began by getting into the blood. The cancer travels through the blood vessels to other parts of the body.

Cancer may spread from where it began to other parts of the body.

When cancer spreads to another part of the body, it is called metastasis. Cancer cells break away from where they began (the primary tumor) and travel through the lymph system or blood.

• Lymph system. The cancer gets into the lymph system, travels through the lymph vessels, and forms a tumor (metastatic tumor) in another part of the body.
• Blood. The cancer gets into the blood, travels through the blood vessels, and forms a tumor (metastatic tumor) in another part of the body.

The metastatic tumor is the same type of cancer as the primary tumor. For example, if Ewing sarcoma spreads to the lung, the cancer cells in the lung are actually Ewing sarcoma cells. The disease is metastatic Ewing sarcoma, not lung cancer.