Treatment for Bone Cancer

Treatment of bone cancer is mainly aimed at destroying the cancer cells in the body and to block the spreading of cancer cells in the body.Treatment may include chemotherapy or radiation therapy according to the seriousness of the cancer. A patient must be courageous when attempting the cancer treatment.If the patient is not courageous the medicine will not act on him.If the patient is courageous and confident the medicine will act quickly on his body and he will be cured very early.  

There are many different methods available for treating bone cancer. The best treatment is based on the type of bone cancer, the location of the cancer, how aggressive the cancer is, and whether or not the cancer has invaded surrounding or distant tissues. There are three main types of treatment for bone cancer: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. These can be used either individually or combined with each other.

Surgery is often used to treat bone cancer. The goal of surgery is usually to remove the entire tumor and a surrounding area of normal bone. After the tumor has been removed, a pathologist examines it to determine if there is normal bone completely surrounding the tumor. If a portion of the cancer is left behind, it can continue to grow and spread, requiring further treatment. If the tumor specimen has normal cells completely surrounding it, there is a much better chance that the entire tumor has been removed and less chance for recurrence.

Historically, amputations were frequently used to remove bone cancer. Newer techniques have decreased the need for amputation. In many cases, the tumor can be removed with a rim of normal bone without the need for an amputation. Depending on the amount of bone removed, the surgeon will replace something in its location.

For smaller areas, this may be either bone cement or a bone graft from another place in your body or from the bone bank. For larger areas, the surgeon may place larger grafts from the bone bank or metal implants. Some of these metal implants have the ability to lengthen when used in growing children.

Chemotherapy

 

You may be referred to a medical oncologist for chemotherapy. This is the use of various medications used to try to stop the growth of the cancer cells. Chemotherapy can be used prior to surgery to try to shrink the bone tumor to make surgery easier. It can also be used after surgery to try to kill any remaining cancer cells left following surgery.

Radiation Therapy

You could also be referred to a radiation oncologist for radiation therapy. The radiation therapy uses high-energy X-ray aimed at the site of the cancer to try to kill the cancer cells. This treatment is given in small doses daily over a period of days to months. As with chemotherapy, radiation therapy can be used either before or after a potential surgery, depending on the specific type of cancer.

Types Of Bone Cancer

Osteosarcoma

The most common type of primary bone cancer is osteosarcoma. It is most commonly found in teenagers and young adults. But you can get it at any age. Osteosarcomas can grow anywhere in the skeleton. But the most common sites are the

 

 

 

affected leg

                                                            affected hand

 Ewing’s sarcoma

This type of bone cancer is named after the surgeon who first described it. It is most common in teenagers.
Ewing's sarcoma usually starts in the pelvis (hips), thigh (femur) or shin (tibia) bones. But you can also get a Ewing's tumour in the soft tissues of the body. Soft connective tissue tumours are called soft tissue sarcomas.
If you have a soft tissue Ewing's tumour, you will have the type of treatment described in this section. This is because these tumours respond to the same treatment as Ewing's bone tumours.

Chondrosarcoma

This type of primary bone cancer is most often found in adults over 40 years old. It is relatively rare – about as common as Ewing's sarcoma.
Chrondrosarcoma is a cancer of cartilage cells. Cartilage is the shiny, smooth substance that normally covers the ends of bones in the joints. It provides support for the joint and allows bones to move smoothly over one another.
Chondrosarcoma can grow inside a bone or on the bone surface. The cancer makes cartilage. So you may have islands of cartilage inside the bone or on the bone surface, in an area where it wouldn't normally grow.
This bone tumour is usually slow growing. The most common sites for chondrosarcoma are the

• Hips (pelvis)
• Thigh bone (femur)
• Upper arm (humerus)
• Shoulder blade (scapula)
• Ribs 

Spindle cell sarcoma

Spindle cell sarcomas are very similar to osteosarcomas but don't produce the bony substance called osteoid, which osteosarcomas do. They behave in a similar way to osteosarcoma and doctors treat them in a similar way. They are usually found in adults over 40. There are several types of spindle cell sarcoma including
Undifferentiated sarcoma of bone means that the cells are not specialised. They are quite undeveloped (immature) and it isn't possible to tell which type of normal bone cells they started from. If you have a spindle cell sarcoma with more well developed (specialised) cells, your doctor will call it a histiocytoma, fibrosarcoma or leiomyosarcoma, depending on the appearance of the cells under a microscope.
Malignant fibrous histiocytoma is a very rare type of spindle cell sarcoma. It tends to be found in middle aged adults. The arms and legs are the most common sites.
Fibrosarcoma is also very rare and most often found in middle aged adults. The most common site for fibrosarcoma is the thigh bone (femur).
Leiomyosarcoma of bone is extremely rare and very little is known about it.

Chordoma

Chordomas are a very rare, slow growing type of bone cancer. They are most common in people between 40 and 60 years of age. They are found more often in women than men. There are around 20 cases in the UK each year.
Chordomas develop from the notochord (pronounced no-tow-cord). The notochord forms the early spinal tissue in a baby developing in the womb. After about 6 months, this tissue is replaced by bone. But sometimes small areas of notochord may remain.
About 2 out of 5 chordomas (35 to 40%) grow in the skull or the bones in the middle of the face. The rest develop in the bones of the spine (the vertebrae). About half of these are in the lower part of the spine.
Chordomas do not usually spread. But if they do, the most common places are the lungs, nearby lymph nodes, the liver, and the skin.