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Cancer from A to Z

Types of cancer, how to prevent them, diagnosis and treatment.

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Bone Cancer

Bone cancer is a sarcoma (cancerous tumor) that arises in the bone. There are about 50 new bone cancer cases every year in Spain, making primary bone cancer relatively rare.

Secondary (or metastatic) bone cancer is cancer that spreads to the bone from another part of the body. This type of bone cancer occurs more commonly than primary bone cancer.

 

Types
The most common types of primary bone cancer are:

  • Osteosarcoma
  • Chondrosarcoma
  • Ewing's sarcoma

Osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma occur more frequently in children and adolescents; chondrosarcoma occurs more often in adults.

Symptoms of bone cancer can vary depending on the size and location of the tumor. Pain is the most common symptom, as well as swelling and tenderness (from a tumor in or near a joint), or difficulty with normal movement. Other symptoms may include:

  • Fatigue
  • Fever
  • Weight loss
  • Anemia

Having one or more of the symptoms listed above does not necessarily mean you have bone cancer. However, it is important to discuss any symptoms with your doctor, since they may indicate other health problems.

News
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At the moment there are no courses of Bone Cancer

Clinical trials
Sym015(Anti-MET) en Pacientes con tumor solido avanzado.
Ensayo de fase 1a/2a, abierto y multicéntrico, para investigar la seguridad, tolerabilidad y actividad antitumoral de dosis repetidas de Sym015, una mezcla de anticuerpos monoclonales dirigida frente al receptor MET, en pacientes con tumores malignos sólidos en fase avanzada
DU176b-D-U311
Estudio fase IIIB, prospectivo, randomizado, abierto que evalúa la eficacia y seguridad de Heparina/Edoxaban versus Dalteparina en tromboembolismo venoso asociado con cáncer.
Estudio fase III, multicéntrico, aleatorizado, doble ciego, con control activo para evaluar la seguridad y eficacia de Rolapitant en la prevención de náuseas y vómitos por la quimioterapia (NVIQ) en pacientes que reciben quimioterapia altamente emética
Tumores sólidos. Antiemesis Estudio fase III, multicéntrico, aleatorizado, doble ciego, con control activo para evaluar la seguridad y eficacia de Rolapitant en la prevención de náuseas y vómitos por la quimioterapia (NVIQ) en pacientes que reciben quimioterapia altamente emética (QAE). A phase III, multicenter, randomized, double blind, placebo controlled study of the safety and efficacy of Rolapitant for the treatment of Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in subjects receiving highly Emetogenic Chemotherapy (HEC)
Ensayo clínico en fase I de determinación de dosis del antiangiogénico multidiana Dovitinib (TKI258) más paclitaxel en pacientes con tumores sólidos
Ensayo clínico en fase I de determinación de dosis del antiangiogénico multidiana Dovitinib (TKI258) más paclitaxel en pacientes con tumores sólidos.

As with most cancers, certain risk factors are known to be linked to the bone cancer. A risk factor is anything that increases the chance of getting the disease. It is important to note that having one or multiple risk factors does not mean that you will get bone cancer. In fact, most people who develop bone cancer do not have any apparent risk factors.

Major risk factors for bone cancer are linked primarily to the condition of having had other diseases, specific treatments for other diseases, and patient age. The following conditions can slightly increase the risk of bone cancer. If you have any of these, you should ask your doctor for more information.

Li-Fraumeni syndrome
Rothmund-Thompson syndrome
Retinoblastoma (a rare eye cancer of children)
Paget disease
Multiple exostoses (multiple osteochondromas)
Other risk factors for developing bone cancer include:

Radiation Treatment: People who have been treated with radiation for an earlier cancer have a higher risk of getting bone cancer later. Being treated at a younger age and being treated with high doses of radiation increase the risk of bone cancer.

Bone Marrow Transplant: Bone cancer has been reported in a small number of subjects who have had bone marrow (stem cell) transplants.

Osteosarcoma and secondary bone cancers are diagnosed by an X-ray. An MRI and CT scan may also be performed to determine how much bone has been destroyed by the tumor and whether it has spread. A biopsy, a procedure to acquire a sample from the bone, will confirm the presence of cancer cells. There are two types of bone biopsy: 

Needle Biopsy:  A long, hollow needle is inserted through the skin to the area of bone to be tested. The needle removes a cylindrical sample of bone for examination. The patient is generally awake during this procedure, but a local anesthetic is used to numb the area. 

Open Biopsy: This procedure requires that the patient be under general anesthesia (asleep). An incision is made, and the surgeon removes a tiny piece of bone from the suspected area for examination under a microscope.

Surgery is often the primary treatment for sarcoma, but radiation therapy and chemotherapy also play important roles. One or both may be recommended to shrink the tumor and make it operable, to spare a limb, to make a less extensive surgical procedure possible and/or to ensure microscopic cancer cells are destroyed.

Radiotherapy
The following technological means and types of radiation therapy are used with this disease:

  • Virtual CT simulation
  • Intensity modulated radiartio therapy (IMRT)