All About Bone Cancer

Symptoms

Pain is the most common sign associated with bone cancer. However, as pain is also caused by arthritis or Lyme disease, the diagnosis often gets delayed. Here are some common symptoms of bone cancer. A patient may experience all or only one of the following symptoms:

• A lump over a bone

• Pain in the bone that is persistent and worsens often at night

• Swelling and redness or inflammation over a bone that often makes moving around difficult. Movement becomes even more difficult if the painful area is near a joint

• Bone that breaks or fractures easily

• Fatigue and a feeling of exhaustion

• Unexplained weight loss

• Swelling of a bone without any known reason

• Intermittent fever

• Anaemia

• Visible limping if cancer affects bones in the legs

Causes

The exact cause of bone carcinoma is still not known. However, doctors have a few hypotheses. Some of the probable causes of bone cancer are as follows:

• Genetic or hereditary

• Exposure to radiotherapy

• Took radiation drugs to treat any other form of cancer that the person was diagnosed with

• People suffering from Paget’s disease may develop bone cancer. However, only a small section of people suffering from Paget’s disease may develop it.

• People suffering from a rare genetic condition called Li-Fraumeni syndrome have a faulty gene that helps the growth of cancerous cells.

Risk Factors

Doctors are not certain about the exact cause of bone cancer. However, some people are more at risk than others. Some risk factors of bone cancer are as follows:

• Genetic history of bone disease in the family makes a person more susceptible to bone cancer

• Some inherited genetic syndromes like Li-Fraumeni syndrome have a genetic makeup that helps in the growth of cancerous cells

• Exposure to radiation as a form of treatment, at your workplace, or due to radioactive accidents can increase the chances of bone cancer

• Paget’s disease can increase the risk of bone cancer in older adults

Diagnosis

Imaging tests are usually the first step in diagnosing bone cancer. Your doctor will use an imaging test to see if the cancer has spread to any other part of the body. Depending on individual signs and symptoms, the doctor may recommend the following types of imaging tests:

• X-Ray

• Bone Scan

• CT Scan

• MRI

• PET Scan

Following an imaging test, the doctor will perform a biopsy. A small piece of tissue will be removed from the affected bone and sent for biopsy. A biopsy will help determine if the tumour is benign or cancerous, how fast or slow the cancer will spread, and provide specific information about where the tumour has formed. It will also help determine the future course of treatment.

Treatment

Treatment of bone cancer requires a multi-disciplinary treatment or MDT. An orthopaedic and an oncologist are the main specialists needed to treat bone cancer. Your treatment protocol may include the following —

• Surgery:

The aim of surgery is to remove the cancerous bone. It involves a special technique to remove the cancerous bone along with some healthy tissue. The surgeon may replace the bone with bone from some other part of the body. In many cases, only the bone is removed and reconstructed or replaced, but in some cases, amputation of the legs or arms becomes necessary. If the cancer has spread to a large area in the bone, amputation of the limb becomes necessary. One may use a prosthetic limb after the amputation.

• Chemotherapy:

Strong anti-cancer drugs are injected through the veins. Chemotherapy is not effective for all types of bone cancer. Osteosarcoma and Ewing Sarcoma show great results with chemotherapy. However, individuals diagnosed with Chondrosarcoma do not benefit from chemotherapy.

• Radiotherapy:

High-power beams of energy are used to shrink the tumour. Radiation therapy can save amputation. It is helpful for those types of cancer where surgery is not helpful. Radiation can also help kill the remaining cancer cells after surgery. In advanced bone cancer, radiotherapy can help in dealing with the pain.

• Medication:

The doctor may prescribe medicines to individuals diagnosed with osteosarcoma.

Prevention

Nobody knows the exact cause of bone cancer, so it is difficult to say how to prevent it. However, limiting exposure to radioactive light may help.