Sarcoma Awareness Month 2025: From Rare Diagnoses to Real Progress

In June, the US Senate officially designated July as National Sarcoma Awareness Month, honoring those affected by a rare and often overlooked group of cancers.

Awareness efforts this year focus on early detection, education and research support. Supporters are encouraged to wear yellow, join community events and advocate for increased funding.

To mark this month, we’re spotlighting new developments from the current year — from blood-based monitoring tools and novel radiotheranostics to early clinical advances — that reflect ongoing progress across sarcoma research and care.

What Is Sarcoma?

Sarcoma is a rare cancer that arises from connective tissues such as muscle, fat, bone and nerves. Sarcoma can affect anyone, but risk may increase with certain inherited genetic conditions, prior radiation therapy or exposure to specific chemicals.

Soft tissue sarcomas — accounting for about 80% of cases — can occur anywhere in the body, while the rest are largely bone sarcomas.

In addition, sarcomas make up just 1% of adult cancers but about 15% of childhood cancers, spanning over 70 distinct subtypes that complicate diagnosis and treatment.

Diagnostics and Monitoring Advances

Can a Predictive Tool Improve Pre-Surgical Sarcoma Care?

Natera reported findings from the largest sarcoma study to date involving Signatera, its personalized molecular residual disease (MRD) test. Led by Stanford, the study analyzed over 2,100 plasma samples from more than 200 patients. Using ctDNA — tumor DNA fragments circulating in the bloodstream — it showed 89% sensitivity and 100% specificity for recurrence detection, with even stronger performance in leiomyosarcoma, the most common subtype in the trial. The results support ctDNA’s potential role in sarcoma surveillance strategies.

Can Structural Variants in DNA Help Track Sarcoma Relapse?

SAGA Diagnostics’ Pathlight test, a next-gen MRD platform using structural variants, showed encouraging performance in soft tissue sarcoma at the 2025 American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting. Originally developed for breast cancer, the platform uses personalized genomic fingerprints to detect recurrence from a simple blood draw. The sarcoma findings suggest potential for broader multi-cancer surveillance applications.

Can a Predictive Tool Improve Pre-Surgical Sarcoma Care?

A Nature Scientific Reports study analyzed 902 soft tissue sarcoma cases treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy using Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) data. Researchers developed a visual prediction tool called a nomogram, that combines factors like tumor size, grade, location, age and radiation use to estimate 1-, 3- and 5-year survival. The tool showed reasonable predictive accuracy, with AUC values approaching or exceeding 0.74 at most timepoints, suggesting it could support pre-surgical treatment planning.

Can We Use Live Tumor Cells to Tailor Sarcoma Treatment in the Lab?

A study in Nature’s NPJ Precision Oncology applied a functional drug-screening platform called quadratic phenotypic optimization platform (QPOP) to 45 soft tissue sarcomas samples. The combination of AZD5153 and pazopanib emerged as a potential alternative to current standards. This ex vivo approach may offer a new avenue for matching treatment regimens to individual tumor biology.

Therapeutic Developments in Sarcoma

Annamycin Shows Survival Benefit in Soft Tissue Sarcoma Lung Metastases

In Moleculin’s Phase IB/II trial, annamycin — an anthracycline analogue — achieved a 59.4% clinical benefit rate in soft tissue sarcoma lung metastases. Among patients with fewer prior therapies, median overall survival reached 20 months, with no observed cardiotoxicity. The drug holds FDA Orphan Drug and Fast Track designations.

THE001 earns FDA Orphan Drug status for Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Thermosome’s investigational liposomal doxorubicin (THE001) is designed for heat-triggered release in tumors via regional hyperthermia. Now granted Orphan Drug designation by both the FDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA), early Phase I data showed it was well tolerated and exhibited early signs of activity. Preclinical results suggest the potential for up to 15-fold higher drug levels directly within tumor tissue.

Can Biomarkers Predict Response to Radiation and Immunotherapy in Sarcoma?

In a Phase II trial of 61 patients with advanced, previously treated soft tissue sarcoma, a combination of stereotactic body radiation — a highly targeted form of radiotherapy — and a PD-L1 inhibitor did not meet its primary goal. But the researchers noticed a pattern: patients with more monocytes compared to lymphocytes — a ratio measured in both blood and tumor tissue — tended to do worse. This suggests the ratio could be a useful signal for identifying patients less likely to benefit from this combined treatment.

Is Immunotherapy Effective in Real-World Sarcoma, and Do Subtypes Matter?

A multi-center retrospective analysis published in Frontiers in Immunology followed 79 sarcoma patients receiving immunotherapy. Median progression-free survival was 7.5 months, with overall survival at 19.5 months. Patients with alveolar soft part sarcoma, and those who began immunotherapy earlier in their treatment, tended to have better outcomes.

First Patient Dosed in Telix’s Theranostic Trial for Sarcoma

The Phase I ZOLAR trial, led by Telix, is evaluating TLX300-CDx — a radiolabeled version of olaratumab targeting PDGFRα — in advanced soft tissue sarcoma. This first-in-human study aims to assess biodistribution, safety and PET imaging feasibility to guide future radionuclide therapy. The platform could offer a renewed role for olaratumab, previously withdrawn from use.

From new diagnostic strategies to early-stage therapies and imaging platforms, this year has brought quite a bit of momentum in sarcoma research.

In the US alone, more than 13,500 people are expected to be diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma in 2025, and over 5,400 deaths are projected — a sobering reminder of how much progress is still needed.

This Sarcoma Awareness Month, as yellow ribbons are worn and stories are shared, these developments reflect a growing commitment to better detection, more targeted care and expanded options for patients facing this rare cancer.

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