Mark Herzlich diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma

Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich is diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma , a rare type of bone cancer

Ewing sarcoma is a malignant round-cell tumor. It is a rare disease in which cancer cells are found in the bone or in soft tissue. The most common areas in which it occurs are the pelvis, the femur, the humerus, and the ribs.

This type of sarcoma is named after Dr James Ewing, who described the tumour in the 1920s.

It is a cancer which can develop anywhere in the body, although it most often starts in the bone (a primary bone tumour). Any bone can be affected, but the pelvis, thigh bone (femur) and shin bone (tibia) are the most common places. Ewing’s sarcoma is most commonly found in teenagers and young adults, and is slightly more common in males than females

Ewing sarcoma occurs most frequently in male teenagers, with a male/female ratio of 1.6:1.

Although usually classified as a bone tumor, Ewing sarcoma can have characteristics of both mesodermal and ectodermal origin, making it difficult to classify.