Orthopaedic Oncology & Sarcoma — Dr Clark's Background
Dr Rhys Clark's orthopaedic oncology background — part of the state sarcoma team at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, with fellowships in sarcoma surgery and revision arthroplasty at The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham, and why bone tumour surgery underpins complex joint revision.
This page is background rather than a service offering. Dr Clark’s practice is knee and hip replacement — but his oncology training is a substantial part of why he takes on the complex end of that work, and it is worth explaining rather than leaving unstated.
The training
Dr Clark undertook two fellowships at The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham — one in revision arthroplasty, the other in sarcoma surgery. Those two fields sit together at the same centres, and the pairing is not arbitrary.
He is also part of the state sarcoma team based at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital — a multidisciplinary department bringing together orthopaedic, plastic, general and vascular surgeons alongside radiologists, medical and radiation oncologists, pathologists and specialised nurses.
“As a training doctor I never thought that I would be treating cancer; however, orthopaedic oncology has become an integral part of my work.”
Why it matters for joint replacement
Bone tumour surgery and revision knee replacement share their hardest technical problem: reconstructing bone that is no longer there.
Removing a tumour from bone leaves a defect that has to be rebuilt so the limb still works. A joint replacement that has been loose for years leaves much the same problem — bone gradually lost around a failing implant, and a reconstruction that has to be built on whatever remains. The tools are the same ones: stemmed and custom implants, metal augments, bone graft, and the judgement to decide how much constraint a joint needs once its own ligaments can no longer provide stability.
This is the honest reason the same centres train both fellowships, and the honest reason it is relevant to a patient considering a difficult revision. A surgeon who reconstructs bone after tumour resection is working at the far end of the same skill.
What the oncology work involves
Sarcoma is a cancer arising in specialised tissue — muscle, bone, nerve or fat. In adults it occurs most often in soft tissue, though it regularly occurs in bone; in children it is more often found in bone.
Patients are generally referred with a lump or an unusual appearance on an X-ray, and those images are reviewed to decide whether further imaging or a biopsy is warranted. The vast majority of lesions turn out to be benign — lipomas, myxomas, schwannomas, neurofibromas, giant cell tumours, osteoid osteoma, bone cysts, fibrous dysplasia and enchondroma among them. A smaller number are more serious and are identified through that pathway.
The other part of the work is metastatic bone disease — cancer that has spread to bone from elsewhere, most commonly from breast, bowel, lung or kidney. A metastasis weakens the bone and can eventually cause it to break. Some lesions need no treatment, some are managed with radiation, and some need an operation to prevent a fracture or to fix one that has happened.
If you have found a lump
Start with your GP. Most lumps are benign, but the thing that matters is getting an accurate diagnosis quickly, so you know what you are dealing with.
Your GP can arrange initial imaging and refer you into the right pathway. In Western Australia, suspected sarcoma is managed through the state sarcoma service at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, which is the appropriate route for these referrals — rather than through this practice’s private rooms, which are dedicated to hip and knee replacement.
For hip and knee enquiries, book a consultation or phone the rooms on (08) 6332 6365.
What is orthopaedic oncology?+
The surgical treatment of tumours affecting bone and soft tissue — muscle, nerve, fat and related tissues. It covers benign lesions such as lipomas, myxomas and schwannomas, malignant tumours such as sarcomas, and cancer that has spread to bone from elsewhere in the body. It is a low-volume, high-complexity field concentrated in a small number of centres.
Is Dr Rhys Clark part of a sarcoma team?+
Yes. Dr Clark works within the state sarcoma team based at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. The team includes other orthopaedic surgeons alongside plastic, general and vascular surgeons, radiologists, medical and radiation oncologists, pathologists and specialised nurses. This work is coordinated through the state sarcoma service rather than through private referral.
How does bone tumour surgery relate to joint replacement?+
They share their hardest technical problem: reconstructing bone that is no longer there. Removing a bone tumour leaves a defect that has to be rebuilt so the limb works again, and a failed joint replacement often leaves the same problem after years of loosening and bone loss. The techniques overlap directly — stemmed and custom implants, metal augments, bone graft, and judging how much constraint a reconstruction needs. Dr Clark's two fellowships at The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham covered revision arthroplasty and sarcoma surgery, for this reason.
I have found a lump — who should I see?+
Start with your GP. Most lumps turn out to be benign, but it is important that imaging and any necessary tests are done promptly so an accurate diagnosis can be made. Your GP can arrange initial imaging and refer you into the appropriate specialist pathway — in Western Australia, suspected sarcoma is managed through the state sarcoma service at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.