2.2 Assessments by the general or primary medical practitioner
Examinations/investigations should include:
- medical history and baseline blood tests
- physical examination including assessing the physical characteristics of the mass and assessing the regional lymph nodes
- plain x-ray (if there is bone pain)
- specialist referral for a soft tissue lump (ultrasound is often of limited use and may be misleading).
The decision to perform a biopsy should be determined by a specialist in musculoskeletal tumours who is part of a specialist sarcoma multidisciplinary team.