Bone tumor is a collective name for malignant and benign tumors that affect skeletal bone tissue (bone or cartilage). Malignant bone tumors are called sarcomas. Most often it is osteosarcoma or osteoma. In some cases, the term is applicable to secondary lesions caused by metastases. Bone tumors occur in patients of any age and regardless of gender. Our clinic provides diagnostics and treatment of bone cancer and other neoplasms of bone or cartilage tissues.
The main types of bone cancer are:
- Osteosarcoma is a primary bone cancer, the most common type, and most often occurs in young people (usually males) from 10 to 30 years old. Malignant bone tumors of this type usually affect the bone tissue of the extremities and pelvic bones. Treatment consists of a course of chemotherapy before surgical removal of the tumor.
- Chondrosarcoma is also a common primary bone cancer, the risk of which increases with age and does not depend on gender. But in young people under 20, in children and adolescents, such bone tumors are very rare. They affect the limbs, pelvic bones, bones of the skull or shoulder blades. It is sometimes found in internal organs, such as the trachea or larynx, which contain areas of cartilage. Treatment is mainly surgical.
- Ewing's sarcoma is a bone cancer that, on the contrary, is more common in children and young people under 30 years of age. In older people, these malignant bone tumors are much less common. This bone sarcoma forms in the bones of the arms and legs, pelvis, shoulder blades, ribs. The treatment uses an integrated approach and a combination of various methods.
- Metastatic bone cancer - bone metastases that have arisen against the background of oncological diseases of other organs: prostate, breast, stomach, lung. Depending on the organ in which the cancer originally arose, it is called so, for example, breast cancer with metastases. Metastatic bone cancer is the most common cancer that affects the bones. Treatment depends on the type of primary cancer.
- Malignant fibrous histiocytoma is a bone cancer of the elderly and middle-aged people that usually affects the soft tissues, but in rare cases the tumor can be localized in the tissues of the bones of the skeleton. In the latter case, it occurs in the lower extremities, in the knee area. Sometimes a bone tumor can metastasize to other organs, such as the lungs.
- Fibrosarcoma is also a soft tissue cancer, but in some cases it affects the bones of the extremities. It occurs mainly in adults and the elderly. The treatment is specific.
- Chordoma is a bone cancer that is localized in the spine or at the base of the skull, more often in men over the age of 30 years. This malignant bone tumor has a slow and local growth and rarely metastasizes to the liver and lymph nodes. Treatment in most cases is surgical.
Other bone cancers: chondroma, osteochondroma, osteoma, osteoblastoma, etc.
Stages of bone cancer:
- Stage 1 - characterized by the absence of distant metastases and local localization of a malignant bone tumor. The tumor is low aggressive.
- Stage 2 - localization does not change, there are no metastases yet, but the aggressiveness of the bone tumor is increasing.
- Stage 3 - other foci of disease appear in the bone.
- Stage 4 - bone tumor gives metastases to other organs and tissues.
Causes of bone tumors
The causes of tumors in the bone tissue and bone cancer are not fully understood, but some risk factors are known:
- radiotherapy and chemotherapy given for other types of cancer may be associated with an increased risk of osteosarcoma;
- metal fixation devices used for fractures also increase the risk of developing osteosarcoma;
- some hereditary diseases, such as retinoblastoma or Li-Fraumeni syndrome, increase the risk of bone cancer;
- Another risk factor is Paget's disease, which manifests itself in old age.
Symptoms of a bone tumor
In the early stages, a malignant bone tumor may not manifest itself, the disease is asymptomatic. Early bone cancer can only be detected during a routine medical examination. According to statistics, the tubular bones of the upper or lower extremities, the pelvis, and the skull are more often affected. The patient can be diagnosed with myeloma, chondrosarcoma, chordoma, hemangioendothelioma.
Among the symptoms and signs of bone tumor progression:
- severe pain in the affected bone, which may occur or intensify at night, the pain may radiate to another part of the body - for example, from the arm to the shoulder blade;
- characterized by numbness or tingling in the affected part;
- loss of muscle strength, paralysis;
- thinning of the bones, which increases the risk of a pathological fracture in the bone;
- limitation of the motor function of the affected joint;
- growths, bulges or bumps on the body.
Pain is the result of pinched nerves due to bone cancer. Over time, the development of a malignant bone tumor causes intoxication of the body. It is manifested by nausea, vomiting, weakness, frequent dizziness. If the tumor is palpated through the skin, then it seems immobile and does not have clearly defined boundaries.
