An uncommon and rare type of malignancy, bone cancer affects about 2,300 people each year.
Cancers of the bone generally fall into one of three categories
The first is osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that typically develops in the hard part of the bone in the upper arm or knee and is most common in children aged 10 to 19 years old.
The second type is chrondrosarcoma, which forms in cartilage pads that align with joints at either end of bone, and usually are found in the shoulder, upper leg and pelvis. Chrondosarcomas mostly are diagnosed in adults over 40 years of age.
The final type of bone cancer is called Ewing Sarcoma Family of Tumors, or commonly referred to as ESFTs, which start in bone but also may surface in blood vessels, fat or muscle surrounding bone, mainly in the legs, arms, pelvis and backbone.
Like many other cancers, treatment for bone cancer depends largely depends on the type of bone cancer (osteosarcoma, chrondrosarcoma or ESFTs), the size of the tumor and its location on the bone as well as the stage of growth at diagnosis.
Common bone cancer treatments include:
- Surgery
- The most common treatment for bone cancer, a surgeon will remove the entire tumor found in the bone. Nowadays surgical procedures have made it possible for many patients to avoid amputation if the cancer is removed from the leg or arm. However, reconstructive surgery following the cancer removal may be necessary inn order to have full function of the particular limb affected.
- Chemotherapy
- A combination of different chemotherapy agents are used to treat osteosarcomas or ESFTs. It is not used to treat chondrosarcomas.
- Radiation Therapy
- Commonly used in combination with surgery, radiation therapy is the use of high energy rays to kill the cancer cells. It is often used to treat chondrosarcomas since chemotherapy can not be used to treat these types of bone cancers. ESFTs are also treated with radiation therapy.
- Cryosurgery
- Cryosurgery, which is the use of liquid nitrogen to freeze and kill the cancer cells, may be used at times instead of traditional surgical procedures to remove the tumor.
