Soft tissue sarcoma has a high incidence in children, but it is another kind of malignant tumor that develops slowly without pain or itching and is difficult to identify. Adult soft tissue sarcoma accounts for less than 1% of all malignant tumors, but in children and adolescents aged 0-18 years, soft tissue sarcoma accounts for 7% of all malignant tumors in this age group. The latest report shows that the 5-year survival rate of rhabdomyosarcoma in children 0-18 years old can reach about 70% after comprehensive treatment. Therefore, the treatment efficacy of rhabdomyosarcoma in children is still relatively good. Soft tissue sarcomas are malignant tumors that occur in soft tissues such as fat, muscle, tendon, lymphatic vessels and blood vessels, and originate from the primitive mesenchymal tissue of soft tissue. There are dozens of types of soft tissue sarcomas, among which rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common, accounting for about 50% of all soft tissue sarcomas. What kinds of lumps on a child’s body should parents be alert for? The initial symptom of soft tissue sarcoma is a painless lump with no specific symptoms. Soft tissue sarcoma usually occurs in the head and neck, genitourinary organs, and trunk and extremities. Among them, the trunk and limbs, head and neck are more superficial and easy to find. If these lumps grow rapidly in a short period of time, parents should pay attention to them and take their children to a specialized hospital for detailed examination. Tumors occurring in the genitourinary system, on the other hand, are difficult to detect early and will not be examined until symptoms of pressure or obstruction appear. What tests are generally needed to confirm the diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma? With the advancement of diagnostic technology, including ultrasound, CT, MRI and even PET-CT examinations can suggest the possibility of malignant tumor, but the only way to confirm the diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma is pathological diagnosis. What are the treatment options for soft tissue sarcoma in children? Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are the main methods of treatment for soft tissue sarcoma today. No matter which surgical treatment is used, the goal is to achieve no residual tumor. Misconceptions of soft tissue sarcoma treatment A. Misdiagnosis Soft tissue sarcoma is relatively rare disease and many hospitals have little experience in pathological diagnosis, which is the most likely problem. If once soft tissue sarcoma is suspected it is still necessary to go to some experienced specialist hospitals for consultation, or even to two or three hospitals for consultation. Many patients rush to treatment after diagnosis without systematic evaluation, which results in treatment plan and risk level not matching, i.e. insufficient dose of treatment or over treatment. Nowadays, chemotherapy for children needs to be undertaken by experienced hospitals, because the treatment of children has certain special characteristics compared with that of adults, and many hospitals have insufficient experience in chemotherapy for children, resulting in irregular chemotherapy or serious side effects that cannot be handled, and ultimately treatment failure. Many parents feel that radiotherapy will cause great harm to children and children cannot bear it, so they refuse radiotherapy and receive other treatments on their own. As a result, the tumor progresses, recurs or metastasizes and misses the best treatment time. Finally, we emphasize that the treatment of pediatric tumor requires multidisciplinary cooperation and comprehensive treatment – the treatment of pediatric tumor cannot be solved by surgeon or internist, but requires a team of many doctors in surgery, internal medicine, pathology, imaging, ultrasound and radiotherapy. It is recommended that patients with pediatric tumors try to choose a team with comprehensive strength to treat them. Many patients go to this hospital for surgery, then to another hospital for chemotherapy, and then to another hospital for examination, running around between multiple hospitals and multiple doctors, resulting in fragmentation, unsystematic treatment, and heavy burden for patients.