Synovial sarcoma usually develops in cells around joints and tendons.

Synovial sarcoma can occur anywhere throughout the body. But, it often occurs around joints in the arms and legs, such as the knee or elbow.

Synovial sarcoma is thought to be caused when certain chromosomes (the parts within cells that contain DNA) are broken apart and put back together in the wrong way. Researchers are still trying to find out why this happens and whether this causes synovial sarcoma.

There are an average of 79 cases of synovial sarcoma diagnosed every year in England.

Synovial sarcoma makes up 2% of all soft tissue sarcomas, and about 0.03% of all cancers.

Although synovial sarcoma can affect anyone of any age, the median age at diagnosis is 42 years old.

There are slightly more males diagnosed with synovial sarcoma.

For more information on these statistics, you can visit our soft tissue sarcoma data hub.