My father passed away from liposarcoma on January 2, 2010 at the age of 62. He had liposarcoma in 1995 and had radiation to treat it and then in 2007 he got prostate cancer and felt as though he had beat it. But this time around he complained of a burning in his throat on December 14, 2009, was sent to the hospital, and stayed there for a few days and was released. On Christmas Day, he went back to the hospital and never got to come home again. While there, the doctors told us he had stage IV cancer. Does that mean he had had cancer for years without knowing it for it to be stage IV? Is there a risk that my sisters and I could get liposarcoma as well? Is there something we could do to prevent it?
Hi, Thanks for writing in. Liposarcoma is a malignant tumor of fat origin. It is a violent and quick growing cancer, and probably it was of large size when detected. Surgery might have been done in early stage but possibly the size of the liposarcoma was large and the extent and involvement did not allow surgical treatment. It is not clear where he had the liposarcoma and if the liposarcoma and prostate cancer were related in any way. Stage 4 cancer is advanced disease and shows that the condition has spread to other organs. Treating stage 4 cancer is difficult, and life expectancy is 2 years with recommended chemotherapy and supportive care. There is no significant risk of liposarcoma occurring in you and your sisters however please be alert of any swelling in your body and have it clinically evaluated immediately.