Cancer Care
From diagnosis and throughout treatment, Main Line Health cancer specialists (oncologists) provide compassionate care for you and your loved ones through all stages of cancer treatment.
Musculoskeletal Tumor Center
What are musculoskeletal tumors?
Musculoskeletal tumors are growths that form in bone and soft tissue such as fat, muscle, blood vessels and nerves. These tumors vary from benign lumps to life-threatening cancers called sarcomas, with treatment ranging from simple observation to combinations of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Musculoskeletal Tumor Center at Lankenau Medical Center
Musculoskeletal tumors require expert and precise care. At the Musculoskeletal Tumor Center at Lankenau Medical Center, specialists collaborate to help all our neighbors in need; we bring together orthopaedic oncology surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, medical and radiation oncologists and more to build the treatment plan that is right for you. Every step of the care process — from evaluation through follow-up — involves close communication among specialists to ensure the best-possible outcomes and help you feel confident and optimistic throughout your recovery.
Musculoskeletal tumor diagnosis
Diagnosing musculoskeletal tumors requires a comprehensive evaluation that begins with a detailed medical history and physical examination. If a tumor is suspected, the first step is imaging – which can be an X-ray or MRI scan to get a detailed picture of the abnormality and the surrounding tissue.
If the imaging finds a possible cancerous tumor, additional imaging studies are done to determine if and how far the tumor has spread. If there is any question about the type of tumor, the final step is to biopsy the tumor for pathology examination needed to confirm a precise diagnosis. This also gives your provider important information needed to determine the stage of the cancer and create the optimal treatment plan for you.
Treatments
Because of the variability found in musculoskeletal tumors, precise diagnosis and expertly personalized treatments are crucial to ensure you receive an accurate diagnosis.
We provide this advanced level of care at the Musculoskeletal Tumor Center at Lankenau Medical Center. We specialize in the treatment of musculoskeletal tumors of the limbs and pelvis, with a focus on aggressive or destructive benign tumors, sarcomas and metastatic cancer of bone.
Some non-aggressive ("benign") tumors can be watched while more aggressive benign tumors usually need to be treated and can be surgically removed. Sarcomas are challenging tumors that typically require surgery combined with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. It’s especially important to tailor individualized treatment for sarcoma because this type of tumor responds differently to treatment.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is used to fight almost every type of cancer and is part of the comprehensive treatment plan created by our oncologists.
Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy, or IMRT, uses sophisticated imaging and software to identify the exact size, shape and location of a tumor and to deliver a precise dose of radiation that conforms to the tumor and leaves surrounding tissue intact.
Radiation Therapy
Specialists at Main Line Health offer a variety of radiation therapies to help treat cancerous tumors while preserving healthy tissue.
Radiofrequency Ablation
Radiofrequency ablation uses heat energy to destroy abnormal cells. It may be used to treat various conditions such as cancerous tumors, cardiac arrhythmias, nerve pain and even sleep apnea caused by excess soft palate tissue.