Cancer Resources » Bone-Cancer

Bone Cancer – Information on Bone Cancer

Christopher Kuntz — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:08:43 +0000

Bone cancer that originates in the bone — primary bone cancer — is rare. Fewer than 2,500 Americans are diagnosed with this type of cancer each year. The condition affects more children than adults. Bone cancer is a malignant (cancerous) tumor of the bone that destroys normal bone tissue (1). Not all bone tumors are malignant. In fact, benign (noncancerous) bone tumors are more common than malignant ones. Both malignant and benign bone tumors may grow and compress healthy bone tissue, but benign tumors do not spread, do not destroy bone tissue, and are rarely a threat to life.

Most of the time when someone with cancer is told they have bone cancer, the doctor is talking about a cancer that spread there from somewhere else. This is called metastatic cancer and can be seen in people with advanced breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer as well as many others. When these cancers in the bone are examined under a microscope they resemble the tissue they came from. If someone has lung cancer spread to bone, the cells of the cancer look and act like lung cancer cells, not bone cancer cells, even after they have spread from the lungs to the bones. They are treated with the same kind of treatment (chemotherapy drugs, for example) that is used for lung cancer.

Malignant tumors that begin in bone tissue are called primary bone cancer. Cancer that metastasizes (spreads) to the bones from other parts of the body, such as the breast, lung, or prostate, is called metastatic cancer, and is named for the organ or tissue in which it began. Primary bone cancer is far less common than cancer that spreads to the bones.

Bone cancer: Primary bone cancer is cancer that forms in cells of the bone. Some types of primary bone cancer are osteosarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, and chondrosarcoma. Secondary bone cancer is cancer that spreads to the bone from another part of the body (such as the prostate, breast, or lung). The most common types of primary bone tumour are osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma, both of which are most frequently diagnosed in children and young adults.

The first symptom of bone cancer is usually pain or tenderness near the cancer. Bone pain is caused by stretching of the periosteum (thick membrane that covers bone) by the cancer, or by stimulation of nerves within the bone. Bone pain may be hard to differentiate from ordinary low back pain or arthritis. Usually the pain due to bone metastasis is fairly constant, even at night. It can be worse in different positions, such as standing up, which may compress the cancer in a weight bearing bone. If pain lasts for more than a week or two, doesn’t seem to be going away, and is unlike other pain that may have been experienced, it should be evaluated by a physician.

Bone cancer is caused by a problem with the cells that make bone. More than 2,000 people are diagnosed in the United States each year with a bone tumor. Bone tumors occur most commonly in children and adolescents and are less common in older adults. Cancer involving the bone in older adults is most commonly the result of metastatic spread from another tumor.

The most common symptom of bone cancer is pain. Other symptoms may vary depending on the location and size of the cancer. Surgery is often the main treatment for bone cancer. Other treatments may include amputation, chemotherapy and radiation.

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Bone Cancer Survival Rate – Know Your Chance

Christopher Kuntz — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 23:42:17 +0000

The bone cancer survival rate is based on a statistical research conducted amongst thousands of people who are or had experienced bone cancer at a certain stage and the duration to which most of them were able to survive a 5 year period. Basically, a bone cancer survival rate is the percentage of people whose life extended 5 years after being diagnosed with the cancer.

No matter what people tell you, a cancer survival rate is only used as a basis and will not exactly predict the life duration of a patient whose been diagnosed with bone cancer. Each case will vary greatly on the patient himself and even those who were predicted to last for only a couple of months were able to last more than 5 years and counting.

From the statistical report showed by EmedTV, the over-all bone cancer survival rate from the year 1995-2001 was at 69%. With the advancement made in orthopedic medicine within the recent years, medical practitioners and the patients themselves hope that chances of survival will increase in the present times.

Most cancer cases are now diagnosed at the early stages, when the cancer is still in the localized stage. This comprises 41% of all patients diagnosed with this type of cancer. However, the number of cases diagnosed at the 2nd or 3rd stage of this cancer is still pretty high at 36%. Fifteen percent is diagnosed at the later stage, when the cancer has already metastasized and prognosis is reasonably low. And then the remaining 8% is cancer of the bone with vague or unknown staging information.

With proper treatment and diagnosis, this type of cancer at stage 0-1 has a relative survival percentage at 85%. This stage is commonly called localized stage because the cancer is confirmed in a certain bone area and not yet proliferated towards surrounding tissues. During stages 2 and 3, the rate of survival will lower down to 69%, under which the cancer has then infected the surrounding tissues. From 69% at stages 2 and 3, the rate will significantly move down to half the percentage at 31 percent as the cancer cells infects the major organs of the body at stage 4.

In the us, cancer of the bone is more prevalent among Caucasian men and African-American women with survival rates at 68% for both of these classes. Their counterparts (Caucasian females and African-American males) have a higher bone cancer survival rate at 72% and 70% respectively.

Knowing your bone cancer survival rate may not be very appealing to many patients. But learning more about this cancer is an imperative part of the whole experience. Know more by visiting Cancer Survival Rates.

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Bone Cancer: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prognosis

Christopher Kuntz — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 23:37:18 +0000

Bone cancer is rare and accounts for less than 1% of all new tumors. Not all bone tumors are fatal in fact benign (non cancerous) abnormalities are more common than malignant ones. Most bone cancers are secondary and have been spread from another site. Primary bone cancer which starts in the bone is quite rare constituting less than one per cent of all malignant tumors. They are more common in males, especially in children and adolescents. The most common type of primary bone cancer is osteosarcoma. This type of carcinoma usually affects young adults. It can affect any bone, but the arms, legs and pelvis are more commonly affected. Other less common forms of primary bone cancer include Ewing sarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma and chondrosarcoma.

Primary Bone Cancer
The causes of primary bone tumours are not known; however, adults who have Pagets disease (a bone disease) may have an increased risk.

Secondary bone cancer
Secondary bone cancer is the most common bone cancer. It is a carcinoma that starts somewhere else in the body and spreads (metastasises) to the bone. The most common cancers that spread to the bone originate in the breast, prostate, lung, kidney and thyroid.

Reticulum cell sarcoma of the bone
A cancerous tumor of the bone marrow presenting in more males than females.

Leukaemia
Cancer of the blood, which starts in the bone marrow

Symptoms of bore cancer
Symptoms tend to develop slowly and depend on the type, location, and size of the tumor. The signs and symptoms of bone cancer include: painful bones and joints, swelling of bones and joints, problems with movement, susceptibility to fractures. Less common symptoms include: unexplained weight loss, tiredness, fever and sweating.

Remember bone cancer is very rare so if you have any of these symptoms it is likely to be caused by another condition. Always see your doctor if you have for a diagnosis.

Causes
Although bone cancer does not have a clearly defined cause, researchers have identified several factors that increase the likelihood of developing these tumors. A small number of bone cancers are due to heredity.

Diagnosis
Bone cancer can present itself in any of the bones of the body, but it is diagnosed most often in the long bones of the arms and legs.

Diagnosing bone cancer involves a number of tests, including: X-rays and bone scans to show the exact location and size of the cancer (these are always done prior to biopsy), bone biopsy where a small sample of the cancer is removed from the bone and examined in the laboratory for the presence of malignant cells, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan similar to a CT scan but uses magnetism instead of x-rays to build three-dimensional pictures of your body.

Treatment
The treatment and prognosis of bone cancer depend upon multiple factors including the type and extent of the cancer, the patient’s age and overall health status. Tumors may be treated with surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of these.

Primary bone cancers:
The tumor, surrounding bone tissue and nearby lymph nodes are surgically removed. In severe cases, the affected limb may need to be amputated, but this is rare. Treatment may also include radiotherapy (x-rays to target and kill the cancer cells) and chemotherapy (anti-cancer drugs). These may be given before surgery, to shrink the cancer and/or afterwards to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

Secondary bone cancer:
Treatment depends on the treatment for the original tumor, but usually includes chemotherapy, radiotherapy or hormone therapy. Surgery may be needed to strengthen the affected bone.

Prognosis
Overall, the chance of recovery (prognosis) for bone cancers has improved significantly since the development of modern chemotherapy. The chance of recovery will depend on a variety of influences; if the cancer has spread, the type of bone cancer, the size of the tumour, location, the person’s general health and other individual factors.

If the tumor is very small and localized, the five-year survival rate is close to 90 percent. If the cancer has begun to spread, however, survival becomes more difficult. The five-year survival rate is only about 60 percent, and the prognosis is poor once the cancer spreads.

Bone cancer in cats and dogs
Bone carcinoma in dogs and cats can be a challenging disorder. Osteosarcoma is by far the most common bone tumour if dogs, usually striking the leg bones of larger breeds. Chemotherapy significantly prolongs the survival of animals with osteosarcoma when used in conjunction with surgery. For dogs Cisplatin alone or in combination with doxorubicin markedly improves survival time to a median of 8-10 months with the percentage of dogs alive after11 months at 50%.

Feline Osteosarcoma unlike its canine counterpart it has a much lower rate of metastasis and longer term survival can be expected with complete excision. Median survival for cats with osteosarcoma is approximately 2 years with many cats outreaching that.
Dick Aronson

Dick Aronson has a background of over 35 years in various facets of the Healthcare industry. He set up and ran clinical trials in more than 20 countries and he has also founded a number of small private health related businesses. Dick now runs a number of informative health websites Go to Health Innovations Online and Go to Cancer Information Online

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Bone Cancer Causes, Symptoms, Risk Factors, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prognosis

Christopher Kuntz — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:56:11 +0000

Bone Cancer

The occurrence of the Bone Cancer is relatively rare it occurs only when some cancerous cells occurs in the bone. Normally the bones undergo the mitosis and suddenly the process of cell division increases rapidly leading to formation of mass of the abnormal cells which forms a lump known as the tumor. The tumor which has occurred in bone can be benign or malignant. Benign tumors are non-cancerous and malignant tumors are cancerous, so malignant tumors are called as cancers which an be either primary or secondary.

Bone Cancer Causes

There are two types of primary bone cancer such as osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma but their exact causes are yet to be found out. The researchers speculate that the oncogenes play a pivotal role in the onset of the primary bone cancer. Osteosarcoma mainly affects the knee bone of an individual who is either young or adolescent. Ewing’s sarcoma mainly affects the pelvic region, femur, humerus and rib bones of the teens mostly. Primary bone cancer is not that much common but the most common type of the bone cancer is secondary bone cancer which is caused because of the cancer in some other parts of the body.

Bone Cancer Symptoms

The signs and the symptoms changes according to location and size of bone cancer, if a person is experiencing following symptoms it is advisable that one should immediately consult a physician or a bone cancer specialist.
* Fractures in the bones due to minor accidents.
* Fatigue
* Sudden Weight loss that is unexplained.
* Severe bone pain.
* Swelling in bones near area of the pain.
* Fever.

Bone Cancer Risk Factors

Risk factors are according to the age of the patients it is high in the young age and less in the adulthood and there are some other factors which may abruptly increase the risk.

* Family history.
* Undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
* Abnormal growth of the bone.
* Exposure to radioactive material.
* Secondary bone cancer.

Bone Cancer Diagnosis

Usually diagnosis of bone cancer is not simple process it requires a lot of procedures to be undertaken such as
* X-ray ( Taking x-rays of the affected part of the bone )
* Bone Scan (Injecting a radioactive material in the body for scanning the affected part of the bone).
* MRI
* CT Scan
* Biopsy (Open biopsy or Needle biopsy).

Bone Cancer Treatment

After the tests have confirmed that a person is suffering from bone cancer it is now up to the doctor to undertake the set of procedure to cure the patients completely. He may resort to surgery , chemotherapy, radiotherapy and he may also undertake myeloablative therapy with stem cell support.

In surgery the surgeon removes out the bone cancer from the affected bone. radiotherapy is aprocess in which the affected part is exposed to intense radiation so that the cancerous cells die because of the intense heat but it is not overdone which may kill the healthy cells. Chemotherapy involves the injecting of the chemicals in to the body of a patients to kill cancerous cells or to stop their further spreading. Myeloablative therapy is an intensive approach designed to destroy all cells that divide rapidly, such as cancer. Unfortunately in the body, normal blood cells also divide rapidly and therefore are candidates for removal with myeloablative therapy.

Bone Cancer Prognosis

The prognosis of bone cancer depends on different factors which may alter the final outcome of the prognosis based on the initial results. Factors affecting bone cancer prognosis are
* Duration for which the bone cancer is active.
* Complicative Chances.
* Outcome probability.
* Death Rate / Survival rate.
* Time for Recovery.

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