Sarcomas are a heterogenous group of rare cancers of mesenchymal origin, accounting for less than 1% of all adult and around 21% of paediatric solid malignancies [1]. The term sarcoma was thought to be coined in the second century C.E. by Galen (AD 131–200), originally as the Greek word sárkōma, meaning “fleshy excrescence”, which itself was derived from sárx, or “flesh”. The first written reference to sarcomas dates back even further to the Ebers Papyrus of ancient Egypt (1500 BC), where it was described as a “fatty tumour” and for which excision was recommended [2]. Since these early descriptions, however, the rarity of sarcomas has continued to make advances in its understanding an elusive endeavour. For the most part of modern medical practice, knowledge of this disease remained rudimentary as it was gleaned only through scattered case reports or series. It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that sarcomas became widely recognised as a distinct clinical entity from other solid malignancies. Rudolf Virchow (1821–1902) and Samuel Weissell Gross (1805–1884) were among the first physicians to formally define sarcomas as separate from carcinomas on the basis of their clinical and pathological features [3, 4]. The classifications and descriptions of sarcomas would rapidly evolve in the ensuing decades, with significant contributions from the likes of James Ewing (1866–1943) and Arthur P. Stout (1885–1967) [5, 6]. In more recent years, the application of modern research techniques has further transformed the field, particularly in areas of molecular pathogenesis, diagnostic evaluation and characterisation, as well as targeted therapy.