Understanding Ewing Sarcoma
- Hockey star Oskar Lindblom, who previously played with the Philadelphia Flyers and San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL), battled Ewing’s sarcoma back in 2020, and now, years later, he’s back to playing hockey in Sweden and he’s engaged to the love of his life Alma Lindqvist.
- The term sarcoma is used to describe more than 70 rare cancers that begin in the bones and the soft tissues, such as muscles.
- Ewing sarcoma is a type of sarcoma that occurs in bones or the soft tissue surrounding the bones, and “lifelong monitoring” is generally recommended after treatment for the disease.
- Treatment for Ewing sarcoma depends on the location of the cancer and the size of the tumor at the time of diagnosis. A doctor’s treatment plan may involve a combination of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.
- Reaching milestones during or after a cancer battle is huge. These events like getting engaged, married, or reaching another birthday, may mean even more than they did previously, so it’s important to take them all in and celebrate all that you’ve overcome.
Hockey star Oskar Lindblom, who previously played with the Philadelphia Flyers and San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL), appears to be thriving after battling a rare form of cancer called Ewing's sarcoma— as he recently got engaged to the love of his life, Alma Lindqvist, and has returned to his home country of Sweden. The 27-year-old cancer survivor and hockey forward, who now plays for the team Brynäs IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a type of sarcoma that occurs in bones or the soft tissue surrounding the bones, in December 2019. His received his diagnosis while working for the Philadelphia Flyers.
RELATED: Philly Flyer's Oskar Lindblom Rings Cancer Bell To Signal End of Treatment Recounting his cancer journey in a recent interview with
NBC Sports for the “Headstrong: Mental Health and Sports” series, Lindblom explained, "I didn't feel anything wrong, like felt good. "Then a bump on my chest kind of started getting bigger and bigger and I thought I got hit and I thought it was a bruise that got big because we play all the time, right?" After he first dismissed the bump as a normal injury from hockey, his then-girlfriend [whom he proposed to last year, as per his Instagram account] urged him to get checked. Following his appointment, he was urged to his doctors and go over the results as soon as possible. He then learned he had Ewing sarcoma, at age 23. Lindblom then underwent six months of chemotherapy, followed by three months of surgery. Recounting how things felt more difficult during the Covid-19 pandemic, Lindbolm said, "I mean those days when I did treatments, like you sat in a chair for like 5-6 hours and just got pumped with chemo, so those days were tough. "I guess trying to see it as a game, like in a season, like more games you play, the closer you get in the end and maybe play the playoffs so just trying to get through and grind through it and luckily I did and I'm happy."
Inspiring Sarcoma Warriors
The sports star ultimately rang the bell and completed his cancer treatment at the Abramson Center at Pennsylvania Hospital in 2020. Lindblom also recounted how "special" he felt when he returned to the hockey arena, telling NBC Sports, "I mean you feel so loved and you skate on the ice again and you do what you love and you see all the fans and they're cheering for you so I can't thank them enough to do that for me and always going to remember that."
RELATED: What Are Sarcomas? Know the Types and Symptoms of These Rare Cancers Although Lindblom is no longer playing on an NHL team, he's now back in Sweden playing for his original Swedish club, Brynäs IF, and closer to his loved ones. After playing for the San Jose Sharks for two years, he signed a two-year contract with an additional multi-year option on May 8, 2024, with Brynäs IF.
Speaking to
TheAHL.com last year, Lindblom said, "My life has been good. I have a lot of family around me and friends who have been taking care of me and on my side at all times. I’m just happy to be able to play hockey again. "I’m alive and living life."
RELATED: Fit & Fighting: The Inspirational Athletes Changing the Ways We Think About Cancer What are Sarcomas?
Sarcoma is a term used to describe an array of more than 70 rare cancers that begin in the bones and the soft tissues. This diverse group of diseases account for only about one percent of tumors in adults and just over 10% of tumors in children.
Resilient 8-Year-Old Who Overcame Ewing Sarcoma Sells More Than 32,000 Boxes of Girl Scout Cookies To Break Record The main symptom of sarcomas is generally a slow-growing, painless mass, but symptoms can be hard to detect as soft tissue sarcomas are typically painless and bone sarcomas can be mistakenly diagnosed as orthopedic injuries. “Unfortunately, most sarcomas do not cause many of the symptoms that may be associated with other cancers,”
Dr. Dale Shepard , director of the
Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute Phase I and Sarcoma Programs, previously told SurvivorNet. “A mass the size of a golf ball or larger and growing should be evaluated as a potential sarcoma. It’s important that patients who do have symptoms are not dismissive of them."
Types of Sarcoma Cancers
The word sarcoma refers to a large array of bone and soft tissue cancers, and individual cancers within that set go by unique names. Some of the types of sarcomas include:
- Ewing’s sarcoma is a cancer that typically occurs in and around the bones, often in the arms or legs, or the bones of the pelvis. It most commonly occurs in children and young adults.
- Kaposi sarcoma is a very rare type of cancer that causes lesions on the skin, in lymph nodes, organs, and the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, and throat. It typically affects people with compromised immune systems, such as those with HIV.
- Epithelioid sarcoma is a type of soft tissue cancer that grows slowly. It is likely to begin under the skin of areas like the finger, hand, forearm, lower part of the leg, or foot.
- Synovial sarcoma, also called malignant synovioma, is a cancer that can form soft tissues such as muscle or ligaments, commonly close to joints or in areas like the arm, leg, or foot.
- Osteogenic sarcoma, also called osteosarcoma, is the most common type of cancer that starts in the bones. This is the type of cancer O’Brien had.
- Spindle cell sarcoma is very rare, comprising as little as 2 percent of all primary bone cancer cases. It can start in the bone, often in the arms, legs, and pelvis, and usually occurs in people over 40.
Understanding Ewing Sarcoma
Ewing sarcoma is a specific type of cancer that occurs in bones or in the soft tissue surrounding the bones. It is most commonly found in adolescents, but younger children, as well as adults (in their 20s and 30s) can also be diagnosed with this disease.
RELATED: Indiana Native Beats Ewing Sarcoma As a Kid, Becomes Millionaire: "Chemo Teaches You that You’re Going to Be Thrown Curveballs" According to the
National Cancer Institute , “Ewing sarcoma most often forms in the bones of the legs, arms, feet, hands, chest, pelvis, spine, or skull. Less often, it forms in the soft tissue of the trunk, arms, legs, head, neck, retroperitoneum (area in the back of the abdomen behind the tissue that lines the abdominal wall and covers most of the organs in the abdomen), or other areas. “Ewing sarcoma has also been called peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor, Askin tumor (Ewing sarcoma of the chest wall), extraosseous Ewing sarcoma (Ewing sarcoma in tissue other than bone), and Ewing sarcoma family of tumors.”
Getting the Emotional Support You Need The National Cancer Institute also explains that a genetic condition may raise the risk of Ewing sarcoma and other sarcomas. Additionally, signs and symptoms of this type of cancer include swelling and pain near the tumor. Testing and staging for this type of cancer is done by examining the bone and soft tissue, and diagnoses are found after a biopsy, according to the NIH. Some
signs and symptoms of Ewing sarcoma include:
- Pain, swelling or tenderness near the affected area
- Bone pain
- Unexplained tiredness
- Fever with no known cause
- Losing weight without trying
Treatment for Ewing sarcoma depends on the location of cancer and the size of the tumor at the time of diagnosis. A doctor’s treatment plan may involve a combination of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Sometimes the aggressive nature of these treatments can cause both short-term and long-term side effects. According to the
Mayo Clinic , “lifelong monitoring is recommended” after completing treatment to watch for potential late effects of the intense treatment.
Reaching Milestones as a Cancer Survivor
Reaching milestones during or after a cancer battle is huge. These events like getting engaged, reaching another birthday, or celebrating the birth of your first grandchild may mean even more than they did previously, so it's important to take them all in and celebrate all that you've overcome.
I'm Able to Be Here For More Milestones One Cancer Survivor's Incredible Story Chrissy Degennaro is a cancer warrior determined to keep enjoying these precious milestones. She has been battling a rare blood cancer called
multiple myeloma for 14 years, and was first diagnosed when she was just 36 years old with a 2-year-old son. When she was given her diagnosis, she almost expected to not be able to see him enter kindergarten. But thanks to 27 rounds of
chemotherapy , two stem cell transplants, a CAR-T cell trial and two CAR-T cell transplants over following 14 years, she's able to keep making memories with her family.
RELATED: I Got to Dance With My Daughter at Her Wedding: Steve Silverstein's Cancer Story "You know, I do live one day at a time," Chrissy previously told SurvivorNet. "Now, maybe I can go a week, a month, but things are looking pretty good. I'm able to be here for more milestones for my son, for more holidays, more birthdays. I do feel like I have had another chance at life."
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff 
Most Popular
Comments / 0