Pain in the Bones
Cancer patients, regardless of their cancer they have, will experience pain. Apart from unexplained or unintended weight loss, pain is the earliest symptom of many cancers, including bone cancer. In terms of bone cancer, the pain is caused by the malignant tumor (or tumors). The pain is often described as a dull, deep ache that resonates outward from the location of the tumor, which is usually the ribs, back, legs, pelvis, and arms.
During the early stages of bone cancer, the afflicted individual will feel the pain when they active or during nighttime. When the cancer starts to progress, the pain within the bones becomes more persistent and nagging. The cancerous cells will start to invade other parts of the body and will disrupt the homeostatic balance. Bone tissue starts to get heavily damaged, resulting in even more pain.
Within a healthy bone matrix, the bone is broken down and rebuilt by osteoclasts and osteoblasts, respectfully. However, during cancers, the osteocytes cannot function properly. Bones get weaker as the tumor spreads around and through the periosteum, the protective coating of bones, into the nerves.
