Bone Cancer
What are bones for?
The 206 bones in the body serve several purposes.
They support and protect internal organs (for example, the skull
protects the brain and the ribs protect the lungs). Muscles pull
against bones to make the body move. Bone marrow, the soft, spongy
tissue in the center of many bones, makes and stores blood cells.
What is cancer?
Cancer is a group of diseases. More than 100 different
types of cancer are known. They all have one thing in common:
cells become abnormal. These abnormal cells grow and destroy body
tissue and can spread to other parts of the body.
Healthy cells that make up the body's tissues grow,
divide, and replace themselves in an orderly way. This process
keeps the body in good repair. If cells lose the ability to control
their growth, they grow too rapidly and without any order. They
form too much tissue. The mass of extra tissue is called a tumor.
Tumors can be benign or malignant.
Benign tumors are not cancer. They do not spread
to other parts of the body and are seldom a threat to life. Benign
tumors can usually be removed. Although benign bone tumors sometimes
return, they usually can be removed with additional surgery.
Malignant tumors are cancer. They can invade and destroy
nearby healthy tissues and organs. Cancer cells also can break away from the
tumor and enter the bloodstream. That is how bone cancer can spread to other parts of the body. This spread
is called metastasis.
Cancer that begins in the bone is called primary
bone cancer. Each year, more than 2000 people in the United States
learn that they have bone cancer. It is found most often in the
arms and legs, but it can occur in any bone in the body. Children
and young people are more likely than adults to have bone cancers.
Primary bone cancers are called sarcomas. There are
several types of sarcoma. Each type begins in a different kind
of bone tissue. The most common are osteosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma,
and chondrosarcoma.
Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer
in young people. It usually occurs between ages 10 and 25. Males
are affected more often than females. Osteosarcoma often starts
in the ends of bones, where new bone tissue forms as a young person
grows. It usually affects the long bones of the arms or legs.
Ewing's sarcoma usually is found in people between
10 and 25 years old; teenagers are most often affected. This cancer
forms in the middle part (shaft) of large bones. It most often
affects the hip bones and the long bones in the thigh and upper
arm. It also occurs in the ribs.
Chondrosarcoma is found mainly in adults. This type
of tumor forms in cartilage, the rubbery tissue around joints.
Other types of bone cancer include fibrosarcoma,
malignant giant cell tumor, and chordoma. These rare cancers most
often affect people over 30.
Cancers that begin in the bone are quite rare. On
the other hand, it is not unusual for cancer to spread to the
bone from other parts of the body. When this happens, the disease
is not called bone cancer. Each type of cancer is named for the
organ or the tissue in which it begins. Cancer that spreads is
the same disease and has the same name as the original, or primary,
cancer. Treatment for cancer that has spread to the bones depends
on where the cancer started and the extent of the spread.
Cancers that begin in the muscles, fat, nerves, blood
vessels, and other types of connective or supporting tissues in
the body are called soft tissue sarcomas. They can affect both
children and adults. They are not discussed in this article.
Leukemia, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma are cancers
that arise in cells produced in the bone marrow. These are different
diseases and are not types of bone cancer.
Next: What are symptoms of bone cancer? »
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