Bone Cancer: Signs and Symptoms

Cancer can happen anywhere in the body, even the bones. When cancer starts, it transforms healthy cells into malignant cancer cells that grow out of control. Sometimes, this creates tumors that spread cancer cells to other parts of the body through the bloodstream in a process that is known a metastasis. While only 0.2% of bone cancers start in the bone, according to Cancer.net, it is very common for the skeletal system to be affected through metastasis.

There are several types of bone cancer, including:

• Ewing sarcoma – commonly occurs in the pelvis, arms, and legs of children and young adults

• Osteosarcoma – cancerous cells develop that produce bone Chordoma

• Chondrosarcoma – cartilage is produced within the cancerous tumor

• Fibrosarcoma

• Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS)

• Sarcoma of Paget’s disease of the bone

The most common form of bone cancer is chondrosarcoma, making up 40% of all bone cancer cases. Osteosarcoma, a cancer prevalent in children and adolescents, follows at 28%.

Like most cancers, there are four stages of development, depending on how far the cancer has spread within the bones and the rest of the body. The farther the cancer progresses, the more challenging it is to treat and cure.