Issues in ultrasound scanning
Ultrasound is essential to the diagnosis of soft tissue sarcomas, with it being the first diagnostic test for most suspected sarcomas.
Sarcomas can be missed on ultrasound scans, either due to machines being misused or scans being misreported. This often means patients with sarcoma are incorrectly told that they don’t have cancer and are consequently diagnosed at a later stage, and less likely to be cured.
What are we doing?
All ultrasounds on soft tissue lumps on the arms, legs, or trunk should be performed according to the British Sarcoma Group guidelines. However, these are not well-used across the country. We want to make sure that every diagnostic centre in the country is aware of these guidelines and has easy access to them.
We are working with expert radiologists to create easy-read versions of these guidelines, which can be displayed easily in every ultrasound centre in the UK. We will also work with professional groups to ensure these are disseminated effectively.
“The radiologist who’d written the report had made a rather implausible guess at what it might be, which really slowed down my referral.”
– liposarcoma patient
“The radiologist who’d written the report had made a rather implausible guess at what it might be, which really slowed down my referral.”
– liposarcoma patient
