Although bone cancer can start in any bone in the body, the pelvis or the long bones in the arms and legs are the most common. Less than 1% of all malignancies are bone cancers, making them extremely uncommon. In actuality, benign bone tumours are significantly more prevalent than malignant ones.
Cancers that begin elsewhere in the body and “metastasize” (spread) to the bone do not qualify as “bone cancer.” Instead, tumours named according to the original starting points as names, such as bone metastases of breast cancer.
While some types of bone cancer usually affect adults, others mostly affect youngsters. The most common form of treatment is surgical removal, but chemotherapy and radiation therapy are other options. The type and stage of bone cancer treatment determines whether surgery, chemotherapy or radiation treatment is to be used or a combination of all.
Symptoms
- A bone ache
- Affected area tenderness and swelling
- Fractured bone due to weakened bone
- Fatigue
- Unwanted loss of weight
Causes
Most bone malignancies have an unknown aetiology. Some bone tumors have a hereditary component, whereas others are correlate with radiation exposure in the past.
Types of bone cancer
Based on the type of cell where the cancer started, different forms of this cancers are classified. The most typical forms of bone cancer consist of:
- Osteosarcoma: The most prevalent type of bone cancer is osteosarcoma. The malignant cells in this tumour generate bone. The bones of the leg or arm are the most common sites for this type of bone cancer to develop in children and young adults. Rarely, osteosarcomas can develop outside of bones (extra skeletal osteosarcomas).
- Chondrosarcoma: The second most frequent type of bone cancer is chondrosarcoma. The malignant cells in this tumour create cartilage. In middle-aged and older adults, chondrosarcoma typically develops in the pelvis, legs, or arms.
- Sarcoma of Ewing: Children and young adults’ pelvis, legs, or arms are the most likely locations for Ewing sarcoma tumours to develop.
Risk Elements
The risk element includes-
- Genetic Disorders Inherited: Li-Fraumeni syndrome and hereditary retinoblastoma are two examples of rare genetic diseases that raise the risk of this cancer in families.
- Bone Disease Caused By Paget: Paget’s disease of the bone, which most frequently affects elderly persons, can raise the chance of later-onset bone cancer.
- Cancer Radiation Treatment: A exposure to high radiation doses, such as those used in radiation therapy for cancer.
Treatment
Bone cancer’s type, stage, general health, and treatment preferences will all affect your available alternatives. Since different bone malignancies respond to different treatments, doctors can help decide what the best course of action is for malignancy. In some cases, bone cancer are treated with surgery, others also require chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Surgery
During surgery, surgeon removes the tumor. In the majority of cases, this entails using specialized procedures to remove the tumour whole, along with a tiny amount of the surrounding healthy tissue. Generally, the missing bone is either replaced by using bone from another area of the patient’s body, material from a bone bank, or a metal and hard plastic substitute.
To remove a large or challenging this cancer, surgery may be required to amputate all or part of a limb (amputation). As new treatments are developed, amputations are being utilized less frequently. If an amputation is necessary, you’ll likely be given a prosthetic limb and put through training so you can use it to complete daily tasks.
Chemotherapy
This utilizes the drugs or medicines which target the cancer cells directly. Chemotherapy is systemic as compared with surgery or radiation.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy uses a high energy beam to target cancer and destroy it. They range from X-rays to high energy Protons.
