Bone Cancer

More than 2,000 people a year are diagnosed with bone cancer in the United States with a bone tumor in there body. This type of cancer is more involved in older patient whose bones are beginning to deteriate with age process. There are many types of bones cancer. The most common types of bones cancer are Osteoscarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma, chondrosarcoma, fibroscarcoma, and chordoma. These are the many types of bone cancer patients get.

The most common symptoms of bone cancer is pain within the body. This pain may occur to be present either at night or with activity. “Depending on the growth of the tumor, those affected may have symptoms for weeks, months, and years before seeking medical advice”. Some more symptoms of bone cancer are fever, chills, night sweat, and weight loss. These symptoms can spread rapidly throughout the tissue in a human’s body.

The doctor will check the patient’s medical history. Most types of cancer is diagnosed throughout the persons close family members. Doctors can perform a blood test to distinguish if the patient has a type of cancer. A CT scan can is performed on the patient and this gives cross sectional pictures of people’s bones. A CT scan can point out the size and the exact location of were the tumor is in the body. A MRI can also be helpful getting examined for a certain type of cancer. “The MRI provides better detail of your of the soft tissue including muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, and blood vessels than a CT scan”.

There are many different methods available for your doctor to treat bone cancer in a human’s body. There are three ways u could possibly treat bone cancer surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Most of the time the patient chose to have surgery to treat bone cancer. The doctor’s goal of surgery is to remove the entire tumor and a surrounding area of bone. If the doctors leave bone cancer behind in the body it can begin to spread throughout the body. If the doctors have to remove a large amount of cancer around the bone they will replace it with bone cement or a bone graft. Then after that the doctor may refer you for chemotherapy.

Unfortunately, there are many risks that can evolve after surgery on bone cancer. The main risk could be associated with surgery including infections, recurrence of the cancer and could possibly destroy the tissue around the bone. The doctors will have to remove some of the surrounding tissues from the bone. “Depending on the location of the cancer, this may require the removal of portions of bone, muscle, nerves, or blood vessels”. Chemotherapy uses many high powered medications to kills the cancer kills within the body. Some of these side effects include nausea, vomiting, loss of hair, infection, and fatigue. “The main side effects from radiation therapy include fatigue, loss of appetite, and damage to the surrounding skin and soft tissues.

Patients usually do not have to worry about the future for bone cancer. But after most of the cancer is removed and the doctor can not see any other infected areas throughout the body the cancer is most likely gone. Investigators are still searching for keys and knowing if there are any long term effects.