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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0The American Journal of Surgical Pathology

The 2026 World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of Soft Tissue and Bone

  • Jason L. Hornick1
  • Judith V.M.G. Bovee2,3
  • Cristina R. Antonescu4
  • Daniel Baumhoer5
  • David Creytens6,7,8,9
  • Angelo P. Dei Tos10
  • Cyril Fisher11
  • Andrew L. Folpe12
  • Meera Hameed4
  • Alexander J. Lazar13
  • Markku Miettinen14
  • G. Petur Nielsen15
20 more authors
  • Yoshinao Oda16
  • Nasir Ud Din17
  • Jian Wang18
  • Akihiko Yoshida19
  • Jean-Yves Blay20
  • Johan L. Bloem21
  • Alessandro Gronchi22
  • Fredrik Mertens23
  • Christina Messiou24
  • Jennelle C. Hodge25
  • Joseph D. Khoury26
  • Andrew Field27
  • Bharat Rekhi28
  • Harshima Wijesinghe29
  • Pavitratha Puspanathan29
  • Fikret Dirilenoglu29
  • Christine Giesen29
  • Blanca I. Indave Ruiz29
  • Dilani Lokuhetty29
  • Wendy Cooper
29 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
  2. 2Department of Pathology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  3. 3Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
  4. 4Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
  5. 5Department of Pathology, HOCH Health Ostschweiz, St. Gallen, Switzerland
  6. 6Department of Pathology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
  7. 7CRIG, Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
  8. 8Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
  9. 9Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Brussels, Belgium
  10. 10Surgical Pathology and Cytopathology Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Padua School of Medicine, Padua, Italy
  11. 11Department of Cellular Pathology, University Hospitals Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
  12. 12Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
  13. 13Department of Pathology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
  14. 14Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD
  15. 15Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
  16. 16Department of Anatomic Pathology, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
  17. 17Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan
  18. 18Department of Pathology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China
  19. 19Department of Diagnostic Pathology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
  20. 20Department of Medicine, Centre Léon Bérard and Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
  21. 21Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
  22. 22Department of Surgery, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy
  23. 23Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
  24. 24Department of Radiology, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, United Kingdom
  25. 25Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics and IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
  26. 26Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
  27. 27Department of Anatomical Pathology, St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, University of New South Wales Sydney, University of Notre Dame, Sydney, Australia
  28. 28Department of Pathology, Tata Memorial Centre, Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI) University, Mumbai, India
  29. 29International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
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Abstract

The 6th edition of the World Health Organization Classification of Soft Tissue and Bone Tumors (STB6) integrates the latest scientific and molecular discoveries with decades of pathological expertise to establish a globally accepted common language for diagnosis and clinical behavior. In this volume, the “essential” and “desirable” diagnostic criteria have been refined, considering different resource settings, ensuring accuracy while maintaining flexibility. A tumor type (entity) is a tumor in which multiple parameters (eg, clinical, histopathological, and/or genetic features) differ from those of other tumor types. In total, 19 new entities met these criteria and were added. A subtype is different in at least one dimension from the main tumor type (clinical, histopathological, or genetic), preferably resulting in a different treatment or outcome. A morphological pattern (no longer “variant”) is important for pathologists to be aware of to facilitate recognition but is not associated with different clinical behavior. The classification was drafted by 203 editors and authors from 27 countries, representing genetics, medical oncology, surgical oncology, orthopedic surgery, and radiology, in addition to pathology. STB6 includes soft tissue tumors (n=116), bone tumors (n=46), vascular tumors of soft tissue and bone (n=18), undifferentiated spindle and round cell sarcomas (n=4), hematopoietic and dendritic cell neoplasms (n=6), and genetic syndromes (n=6). In total, 62 sarcomas are included. A consensus was reached among the expert editorial board. In this review, we highlight changes in tumor classification in STB6, including recently described tumor types, novel diagnostic markers, recent discoveries in molecular genetics, and improvements in prognostication.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{hornick20262026,
  title = {{The 2026 World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of Soft Tissue and Bone}},
  author = {Jason L. Hornick and Judith V.M.G. Bovee and Cristina R. Antonescu and Daniel Baumhoer and David Creytens and Angelo P. Dei Tos and Cyril Fisher and Andrew L. Folpe and Meera Hameed and Alexander J. Lazar and Markku Miettinen and G. Petur Nielsen and Yoshinao Oda and Nasir Ud Din and Jian Wang and Akihiko Yoshida and Jean-Yves Blay and Johan L. Bloem and Alessandro Gronchi and Fredrik Mertens and Christina Messiou and Jennelle C. Hodge and Joseph D. Khoury and Andrew Field and Bharat Rekhi and Harshima Wijesinghe and Pavitratha Puspanathan and Fikret Dirilenoglu and Christine Giesen and Blanca I. Indave Ruiz and Dilani Lokuhetty and Wendy Cooper},
  journal = {The American Journal of Surgical Pathology},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1097/pas.0000000000002624},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1097/pas.0000000000002624},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - The 2026 World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of Soft Tissue and Bone
AU  - Jason L. Hornick
AU  - Judith V.M.G. Bovee
AU  - Cristina R. Antonescu
AU  - Daniel Baumhoer
AU  - David Creytens
AU  - Angelo P. Dei Tos
AU  - Cyril Fisher
AU  - Andrew L. Folpe
AU  - Meera Hameed
AU  - Alexander J. Lazar
AU  - Markku Miettinen
AU  - G. Petur Nielsen
AU  - Yoshinao Oda
AU  - Nasir Ud Din
AU  - Jian Wang
AU  - Akihiko Yoshida
AU  - Jean-Yves Blay
AU  - Johan L. Bloem
AU  - Alessandro Gronchi
AU  - Fredrik Mertens
AU  - Christina Messiou
AU  - Jennelle C. Hodge
AU  - Joseph D. Khoury
AU  - Andrew Field
AU  - Bharat Rekhi
AU  - Harshima Wijesinghe
AU  - Pavitratha Puspanathan
AU  - Fikret Dirilenoglu
AU  - Christine Giesen
AU  - Blanca I. Indave Ruiz
AU  - Dilani Lokuhetty
AU  - Wendy Cooper
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/07
JO  - The American Journal of Surgical Pathology
DO  - 10.1097/pas.0000000000002624
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1097/pas.0000000000002624
AB  - The 6th edition of the World Health Organization Classification of Soft Tissue and Bone Tumors (STB6) integrates the latest scientific and molecular discoveries with decades of pathological expertise to establish a globally accepted common language for diagnosis and clinical behavior. In this volume, the “essential” and “desirable” diagnostic criteria have been refined, considering different resource settings, ensuring accuracy while maintaining flexibility. A tumor type (entity) is a tumor in which multiple parameters (eg, clinical, histopathological, and/or genetic features) differ from those of other tumor types. In total, 19 new entities met these criteria and were added. A subtype is different in at least one dimension from the main tumor type (clinical, histopathological, or genetic), preferably resulting in a different treatment or outcome. A morphological pattern (no longer “variant”) is important for pathologists to be aware of to facilitate recognition but is not associated with different clinical behavior. The classification was drafted by 203 editors and authors from 27 countries, representing genetics, medical oncology, surgical oncology, orthopedic surgery, and radiology, in addition to pathology. STB6 includes soft tissue tumors (n=116), bone tumors (n=46), vascular tumors of soft tissue and bone (n=18), undifferentiated spindle and round cell sarcomas (n=4), hematopoietic and dendritic cell neoplasms (n=6), and genetic syndromes (n=6). In total, 62 sarcomas are included. A consensus was reached among the expert editorial board. In this review, we highlight changes in tumor classification in STB6, including recently described tumor types, novel diagnostic markers, recent discoveries in molecular genetics, and improvements in prognostication.
SN  - 0147-5185
SN  - 1532-0979
ER  -