Bone cancer and its types
Malignant disease works to destroy healthy bone cells, not all tumors that affect the bone cancer, but the most benign, the most common type. The two species share their growth and pressure on surrounding bone tissue. However, benign tumors do not proliferate and do not destroy healthy cells, and therefore do not pose a real risk to the patient’s life, as opposed to cancerous tumors.
Types of bone cancer
Bone cancer is divided into two main types: primary, that is, it arises from the bone cells itself, and secondary to bone after spreading from other organs infected by cancer such as breast, lung or prostate. Primary tumors are less common than secondary tumors, accounting for 1% of bone tumors. The bone consists of several types of cells: bone cells, cartilage, fibroblasts, in addition to the bone marrow, and therefore different types of bone cancer different cells infected, each type of cells affected by a particular tumor, and these types of the following:
- Orthopedic sarcoma (Sarcoma refers to malignancy) that affects the bone cells, usually in the knee or arm, occurs in the 10 to 19 year age group and may occur in people over 40 years of age if they have other conditions.
- Sarcoma cartilage : Which arise in the cartilage tissue located on the ends of the bone, and usually appear in the pelvis, leg and shoulder, and usually spread in adults (over 40 years), and increase the chance of infection with age.
- Eung Sarcoma : A tumor that may arise in the bone in addition to other tissues, such as fatty tissue or blood vessels, and is often spread in the spine, pelvis, in addition to the arms, feet, and affects adolescents and children under 19 years.
Symptoms of bone cancer
There are many symptoms that a bone cancer patient feels:
- Feeling pain in the bone : This is usually the first symptom of the patient and the most common as well, as the patient feels pain in the bone injured, and may be the pain in the severity of the severity of the beginning of the disease, and may disappear sometimes, and become increasingly severe and constant severity when the cancer Bone, and the pain becomes worse during the night or when performing activities involving the injured bone.
- Swelling of the affected area : It may not happen until weeks after cancer, then there may be swelling, bump or lump in the affected area. Tumors that include the vertebrae of the neck cause the appearance of a lump there, and the patient then has trouble swallowing and breathing.
- Sclerosis and swelling of the joints : This occurs if the tumor is close to or inside the joint, then the patient feels pain when moving the injured joint, in addition to determine the extent of movement in it.
* Injury fractures : The bone tumor may weaken the injured bone, although in most cases, the bone does not break. The patient feels severe and sudden pain in the bone, and what usually happens is the emergence of external bumps resulting from small fractures that occur in the very advanced stages of the disease.
- Less common symptoms of bone cancer : If the cancer is growing near the spinal cord, it puts pressure on it, causing numbness and weakness in the limbs. The patient may have other symptoms, such as high body temperature, general feeling of fatigue, weight loss, and anemia.
Factors that may increase the chance of bone cancer
Some people are more likely to develop bone cancer such as:
- Children and Adolescents : In general, most cases of bone cancer in children or adolescents are less than 20 years.
- Persons who have previously undergone radiotherapy .
- Patients with Paget’s disease : A disease caused by a defect in the process of building and destruction of bone cells, and results in the bones are weak, although it is thicker than normal bones.
- Having a family history For bone cancer.
- People with hereditary retinal cancer : It is a type of tumor that usually affects children.
- People with Lee Fromini Syndrome : A rare disease caused by genetic defect.
- Children born with a secret hole .
Treatment of bone cancer
Cancer treatment has many different methods, and the choice of the appropriate method depends on several factors, such as the type of tumor, its location, the stage it reached, as well as the age of the patient and his general state of health. The most important methods of treating bone cancer are as follows:
- Surgery : The most commonly used treatment for bone cancer, the tumor is removed completely, in addition to part of the surrounding tissue.
- Chemotherapy : It is the use of chemical anti-cancer drugs, and does not use this type of treatment in the case of sarcoma cartilage.
- Radiation therapy : High-energy waves of X-rays are used to kill cancer cells and are commonly used in addition to surgery.
- Conducting severe cold surgery : This includes the use of liquid nitrogen to freeze cancer cells and then destroy them.