Most common Types of Cancer - Bone Cancer (Osteosarcoma and Other Types)

Bone Cancer
A bone cancer is an abnormal growth of cells within the bone that have became cancerous. Bone cancer may be classified as primary cancer originated in the bone, and secondary cancer originated from elsewhere.

Types of bone cancer
A. Osteosarcoma
Osteosarcoma, a cancerous bone tumor, is the most common type of aggressive and primary bone cancer, usually arise in a bone and destroy local tissue and weakens the bone. Since osteosarcoma develops from osteoblasts, it most commonly affects adolescents and young adult and most cases of osteosarcoma involve the knee joint. It affects about four in one million people in the United States every year.

B. Chondrosarcoma
Chondrosarcoma is a cancer composed of cells derived from transformed cells that produce flexible connective tissues between bones. It is is the second most frequent primary malignant tumor of bone, representing approximately 25% of all primary osseous neoplasms.

C. Ewing's sarcoma
Ewing's sarcoma, a rare cancer disease found in the bone or in soft tissue, is a malignant bone tumor that affects childhood and young adulthood, but usually develops during puberty and spreads to the lungs and other bones.

D. Etc.

Symptoms and signs
1. Fracture due to the weakness of bone
2. Limitation of motion
3. Bone pain
4. Swelling, tenderness, pain or stiffness in the affected area
5. Fatigue
6. Involuntary Weight loss
7. Fever
8. Anemia
9. Limitation of motion
10. joint tenderness or inflammation
11. Etc.

Risk factors
1. Young age
Being a child or young adult

2. Undergone radiation therapy or chemotherapy
Treatments radiation therapy or chemotherapy may cause damage to the genetic material of the cells, leading to increased risk of bone cancer.

3. Family member with bone cancer
If one of the your direct family member had bone cancer, your risk of bone cancer is increased.

4. Non cancerous bone diseases
Children and teens who have certain noncancerous bone diseases have a higher chance of developing osteosarcoma.

5. Lifestyle factors
Some researchers believe that high-fat diets, lack of exercise, smoking, and excessive drinking can increase an adult’s risk of osteosarcoma and other bone cancers.

6. Etc.

Causes
The causes of bone cancers are still unknown, but researchers suspect that it may be caused by
1. Genetic mutation
It can be caused by alternation of cells DNA, leading to abnormal cells grow during the process of division and replication. As the cancerous cells do not die and keep multiply that lead to a malignant tumor and invade nearby tissues causing secondary cancer.


2. Radiation
Radiation treatment can damage the DNA of nrimal cells, causing of genetic mutations that can trigger osteosarcoma.

3. Trauma
Some researchers suggested that an often serious and body-altering physical injury of the bone in the young age, may increase the risk of osteosarcoma.

4. Paget's disease
Normal bone has a balance of forces that act to lay down new bone and take up old bone in maintaining the normal calcium levels in our blood. in patients with Paget's disease, the bone the bone formed during the normal process is abnormal, enlarged, less dense, and prone to breakage.

5. Hereditary retinoblastoma
Retinoblastoma is a cancer that develops in the cells of retina, affecting the eyes.

6. Li-Fraumeni Syndrome
Li-Fraumeni syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant hereditary disorder that can cause cancer often appears at a young age due to turn off the p53 tumor suppressor gene, including osteosarcoma.

7. Etc.

Diagnosis and tests
If a tumor is suspected, your doctor may first look into your medical history in detail and examinations of rectal for men to rule out the metastasis of primary prostate cancer and rectal and pelvic for women to rule out the metastasis of primary ovarian cancer
Tests to locate the primary tumor and any metastasis include:
1. X ray
X ray may be the first examination your doctor will order to detect the presence of bone tumors.
Because if its may give a false result in many cases, normally the examination is accompanied followed by a CT scan.

2. CT scan
CT scan is one most reliable in showing the the exacted extent of the tumor and how much bone have been affected.

3. Bone scan
It is a nuclear scanning test, beside mostly used in identifying new areas of bone growth and damage to the bones breakdown, it can also evaluates the metastasis of cancer in the bone.

4. Biopsy
It is general done with general anesthesia to identify the grade and to determine types of treatment and prognosis will produce the best result for the patients, when the tumor is identified.

5. MRI
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is one of many advanced technology used to visualize internal structures cross sectional imaging of your body used effectively in providing the better details of the metastasis of cancer in the bone and surrounding soft tissues.

6. Etc.

Factors that influence the treatment and prognosis
Factors that influence the treatment and prognosis are important to evaluate the future of the metastasis, normally the lung, types, position as well as the grade of the tumors to make the treatments more effective, including surgery and chemotherapy.

Treatments
There are different methods to treat bone cancer such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, depending types, the location, aggressiveness and metastasis of the bone cancer. The purpose of the treatment is to remove the primary tumor, prevent the risk of spreading and limit the impact the function and operation of of the affected parts of the patients' body.

A. Types of Treatment
1. Surgery

If it is localized osteosarcoma, your doctor will remove the tumor and some of the healthy tissue around in limb-preserving surgery and require radiotherapy after. In many cases, because of the size of tumor or other factors, all or part of an arm or leg (amputation) may be needed to remove for the best interest of the patients.

In case of cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, lymph node dissection is required to prevent the tumor from spreading further.
Amputations were frequently used to remove bone cancer in the past, but today with advanced technology and better treatments, tumor can be removed without the need for an amputation in many cases.

2. Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy is the medical use of ionizing radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors and combine with other treatment such as surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, Immunotherapy or some mixture of the four.

3. Chemotherapy

If the cancer has spread to other organs or other part of the body or to prevent the spreading of the tumor, then chemotherapy is the best choice drugs to kill cancer cells by taking medications orally or into a vein or muscle by a needle, so the medication can travel in the bloodstream through out the body to kill cancer cells.

Chemotherapy given after surgery, to remove the cancer, is called adjuvant chemotherapy. Chemotherapy given before surgery to shrink the cancer is called neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

4. Etc.

B. Most common types of bone cancer treatments

A. Osteosarcoma
Since osteosarcoma has a tendency to spread. In many case, the best treatment is the combination of surgery and chemotherapy.

B. Ewing's Sarcoma
Ewing's Sarcoma is more aggressive than other types of cancer. Since it also has tendency to spread but it is often responsive well to radiotherapy and chemotherapy combination but sometime combination of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy is required.

3. Chondrosarcoma
Since Ewing's sarcoma found in the bone or in soft tissue started in cartilage, is a lower types of growth and spreading, inmost cases, only surgery is required.

4. Etc.

Risks and Side effects
A. Risks
1. Infection caused by surgery
2. Recurrence
3. Risk of fracture of the remaining bone
4. Weakness due to surgery
5. Loss of sensation due to removal of nerves
6. Killing normal cells due to drugs used in chemotherapy
7. Increased risk of wound problems from surgery in the same area
8. Damage to the surrounding skin and soft tissues.
9. Etc.

B. Side effects
1. Nausea and
2. Vomiting,
3. Loss of hair
4. Fatigue
5. Severe itching
6. breaking out in a rash or hives
7. Etc.