Role of expert centres in the management of sarcomas – A UK perspective

Abstract

Sarcomas are a rare group of tumours with many differing behaviours and histologies. The generally poor outcomes for patients with sarcoma have not significantly improved over recent years in the United Kingdom. The reasons for this are multi-factorial but delayed diagnosis plays an important role. Developing patient pathways and clinical guidelines is critical to improving patient outcomes as well as raising awareness of sarcoma in primary and secondary care. Expert centres play a key role in diagnosis and the complex multimodality treatment of sarcoma; furthermore centralising of care is critical to improving outcomes as this where multidisciplinary expertise is concentrated. In this review we explore the current role of the expert centre from a United Kingdom (UK) perspective and compare and contrast this with practice elsewhere.