INTRODUCTION: True bone cancer (aka primary bone cancer) affects over 2,000 people in the United States each year. Cancer that originates in the bone - primary bone cancer - is rare. Early diagnosis and treatment of this disease increases the likelihood of survival. Children and young people are more likely than adults to develop cancer of the bones. In the past, amputation was common for bone cancer in an arm or leg.
CAUSE: Most of the time, when people have cancer in their bones, it is caused by cancer that has spread from elsewhere in the body to the bones rather than actual cancer of bone cells.
TYPES: There are more than 100 types of cancer, and each type is named for the organ or tissue in which it begins. Certain types of cancers are particularly likely to spread to the bones. It is important to note that when these other types of cancer spread to the bone, they are still named for the tissue or organ where they arose and are not termed "bone" cancer.
Many different types of cancer are able to metastasize (spread) to the bones. The most common types of cancer that spread to the bones are lung, breast, prostate, thyroid, and kidney.
There are several forms of bone sarcoma, depending upon the type of bone tissue where the tumor began. The most common forms of primary bone cancer are osteosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, and chondrosarcoma. Other, less frequent types include fibrosarcoma, malignant giant cell tumor, as well as chordoma.
SYMPTOMS: The symptoms of bone malignancy tend to happen slowly and depend on the kind, location, and size of the tumor. Pain is the most frequent sign of bone cancer and doctors often use radiation therapy to shrink tumors to reduce the pressure, pain or other symptoms they may produce.
TREATMENT: Treatment depends on the type of bone cancer, as well as its location, size and stage. Treatment may involve chemotherapy with multiple drugs as well as radiation therapy and surgery to remove the primary tumor.
Treating cancer that has spread to the bones (metastatic cancer) depends on the form of cancer (the tissue where it originated) and the extent of the spread. As with other malignancies, treatment depends on the size, type, location and stage of the cancer, including whether it has metastasized to the lungs or other parts of your body, and your overall health.
Your physician may suggest using radiation therapy at various times during your treatment and for various reasons, such as before surgery to shrink a cancerous growth or after surgery to end the growth of any remaining cancer cells.
A well-coordinated group of doctors - including surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, plus physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists who have knowledge about treating sarcomas - is absolutely necessary for increasing the chance you'll be able to have limb-sparing treatment. In some instances, chemotherapy may be the only treatment that's needed. More often, doctors use it along with other treatments, such as surgery or radiation, for improve results.
CONCLUSION: In contrast to cancers which have metastasized to the bone, real bone cancers are tumors that originate from the tissues of the bones. These malignancies, called primary bone cancers, are very rare in comparison to those that have spread to the bones.
Pain is the most frequent symptom of bone cancer, but sometimes a lump on the bone can be felt through the skin. It is much less common to have a true bone cancer, a cancer that arises from cells that make up the bone.
The treatment and prognosis for the disease depends upon many factors including the kind and extent of the cancer, the age of the patient and overall degree of health . It may be treated with surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of all of these.
About the Author:
About the author: Richard H. Ealom is an ezinearticles.com writer and has written many articles on Diseases,Causes,Cures. To find out more about Bone Cancer visit Cancer Breakthrough USA! You have permission to use this article as long as this box is left unchanged.
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