Signs, symptoms and treatment of bone cancer
Content:
- What is bone cancer?
- Bone cancer symptoms
- Bone Cancer Causes
- Bone cancer stages
- Bone cancer with metastases, prognosis
- Bone cancer treatment
What is bone cancer?
Bone cancer is a malignant tumor of various parts of the human skeleton. The most common form is secondary cancer, when the oncological process causes metastases that grow from neighboring organs.
Primary cancer, when the tumor develops from the bone tissue itself, is much less common. Its varieties are osteoblastoclastoma and parostal sarcoma, as well as osteosarcoma. Malignant tumors of cartilage tissues are considered to be bone cancer: chondrosarcoma and fibrosarcoma. And also cancers outside the bone - lymphoma, Ewing's tumor and angioma.
In the structure of cancer incidence, bone cancer occupies a small share - only one percent. But due to the symptoms that are not expressed at the initial stages and the tendency to rapid growth, it is one of the most dangerous types of oncology.
Bone cancer symptoms
The first sign of developing bone cancer is pain that appears when you touch the place under which the tumor is located. At this stage, the neoplasm can already be felt: this is the middle stage of the course of the disease.
Then the pain is felt without pressure. Mild at first, sometimes appearing from time to time, gradually it becomes stronger. Appears unexpectedly and disappears quickly.
The pain occurs periodically or constantly, in a dull or aching form. It concentrates in the area of the tumor and can radiate to the nearest parts of the body: if the shoulder is affected, the arm may hurt. The pain does not go away even after rest, worse at night. As a rule, analgesics do not relieve the pain symptom, and at night or during vigorous activity, the pain increases.
Other common symptoms of bone cancer include limitation of movement and swelling of the limbs and joints. Bone fractures are possible, even if the fall was very minor.
Abdominal pain and nausea are common. This is the result of hypercalcemia: the calcium salts from the diseased bone enter the blood vessels and cause unpleasant symptoms. At further stages of the development of the disease, other common signs of bone cancer are observed - a person loses weight, his temperature rises.
At the next stage of the malignant process, usually two to three months after the onset of pain, regional lymph nodes increase, joints swell, and soft tissue edema develops. The tumor is well palpable - as a rule, it is a motionless area against the background of mobile soft tissues. In the affected area itself, there may be an increased skin temperature. The skin in this place becomes pale, thinner. If the size of the tumor is significant, a vascular, marbled pattern is visible.
Later, weakness appears. A person begins to get tired quickly, becomes lethargic, he is often haunted by drowsiness. If cancer metastases to the lungs, breathing problems are observed.
The main symptoms of bone cancer are:
- pain;
- limitation of joint mobility;
- an increase in regional lymph nodes;
- swelling of the limbs and joints;
- swelling of soft tissues at the site of the tumor;
- pain even after rest, worse at night;
- increased skin temperature over the tumor;
- thinning, pallor of the skin, pronounced vascular pattern;
- weakness, lethargy, fatigue, drowsiness;
- breathing disorders.
Symptoms of bone cancer, not obvious and mild at the initial stage, lead to the fact that a person does not attach importance to ailments until the disease has gone far enough.
The main risk group is children and young people under thirty. Bone cancer mainly affects males between seventeen and thirty. Elderly people are very rarely sick.
Bone Cancer Causes
One of the provoking factors in the development of bone cancer is considered to be radiation in doses above sixty Gray. Including - intensive radiation during the treatment of other types of tumors. A conventional X-ray does not have such an effect on bone tissue. The ingestion of radioactive strontium and radium can increase the tendency to form cancer cells.
Mechanical trauma is called among the causes of bone cancer: after a long time, a tumor may form at the site of injury. Statistics say that about 40% of cases of the disease are recorded in the area of previous injuries and bone fractures.
Bone marrow transplant operations can also provoke malignant processes in bone tissues.
A predisposition to the development of malignant neoplasms is observed in people with certain hereditary pathologies. Thus, Li-Fraumeni syndrome is determined in the history of some patients diagnosed with breast cancer, brain cancer, and sarcoma. The genetic diseases that can influence the appearance of cancer today include the Rothmund-Thomson and Li-Fraumeni syndromes, Paget's disease, and the presence of the RB1 gene.
According to doctors, DNA mutations can become the reason for the development of oncological neoplasms, as a result of which oncogenes are "triggered" or genes that prevent tumor growth are suppressed. Some of these mutations are inherited from their parents. But most tumors are associated with mutations acquired by a person during his own life.
The risk of developing bone cancer is slightly higher in people who smoke and those who have chronic diseases of the skeletal system.
The main causes of bone cancer are:
- bone and joint injuries;
- radioactive radiation;
- hereditary predisposition;
- DNA mutations;
- bone marrow transplant surgery;
- chronic diseases of the skeletal system.
See also: Other Cancer Causes and Risk Factors
Bone cancer stages
In the first stage, bone cancer is limited to the affected bone. At stage IA, the tumor reaches eight centimeters in diameter. At stage IB, it becomes larger and spreads to other areas of the bone.
The second stage of the disease is characterized by malignancy of neoplastic cells. But it still doesn't go beyond the bone.
At the third stage, the tumor captures several areas of the affected bone, its cells no longer differentiate.
A sign of the fourth stage is the "intervention" of cancer in tissues adjacent to the bone: the formation of metastases. Most often - in the lungs. Later - to regional lymph nodes, as well as to other organs of the body.
The speed of the transition of the disease from one stage to another depends, first of all, on the type of malignant tumor. Some types of neoplasms are very aggressive and progress quickly. Others develop slowly.
One of the fastest growing types of bone cancer is osteosarcoma. He's the most common. Typically seen in men. It is located on the long bones of the legs and arms, near the joints. X-rays show changes in bone structure.
Another type of bone cancer, chondrosarcoma, can grow at different rates, both fast and slow. It is found mainly in people over forty years old. And it is usually located on the bones of the thighs and pelvis. Metastases in such a tumor can "migrate" to the lymph nodes and lung tissue.
One of the rarest types of bone cancer is chordoma. It affects in most cases people over the age of thirty. Localization - the spine: either its upper or lower section.
Bone cancer with metastases, prognosis
Most patients get an appointment with an oncologist when bone cancer has gone far. As a rule, metastases are diagnosed at this stage. Therefore, complex treatment of malignant tumors of the skeletal system usually includes the entire range of anti-cancer techniques. In the later stages of the disease, it is often necessary to resort to limb amputation.
The effectiveness of treatment in oncology is measured by the survival rate: the time that a person has lived from the moment of diagnosis. With bone cancer at the age of five, it reaches seventy percent of patients. Both children and adults. The most common bone tumor in adult patients is chondrosarcoma, with eighty percent of patients living for more than five years.
The cause of death in this form of oncology is usually not the bone cancer itself, but osteogenic tumors in other parts of the body caused by metastases from the bone focus.
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Bone cancer treatment
The key to effective treatment for bone cancer is the earliest possible diagnosis. An X-ray or MRI performed on time can reveal a malignant process in the initial stages and provide high chances for the patient to recover.
Treatment tactics in each case are selected individually. The main methods: surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, are used either in combination or separately from each other.
When choosing techniques and their combination, the oncologist is guided by several factors: the localization of the tumor, the degree of its aggressiveness, the presence or absence of metastases to nearby or distant tissues.
Operative intervention
Surgery is performed in the vast majority of cases. Its purpose is to remove the tumor and adjacent healthy bone tissue. If earlier the affected limb was often amputated, today more gentle methods are used when only a malignant neoplasm is removed. The damaged area is repaired with bone cement or bone grafting from another area of the body. Bone jar tissue can be used. If a large area of bone has been removed, a metal implant is implanted. Some implant models are able to “grow” with the body of a child or adolescent.
Before surgery, chemotherapy may be prescribed: the administration of drugs to stop the growth of malignant cells. This allows the tumor to shrink and make the operation easier. After the tumor has been surgically removed, chemotherapy is used to kill any cancer cells that may have remained in the body.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy also aims to kill cancer cells. High-energy X-rays only affect the area where the tumor is located. Treatment is long: every day, for several days or months.
Low-intensity electro-resonance therapy
Among the modern methods of treating bone cancer, the NIERT method (Low Intensity Electro Resonance Therapy) can be noted. In combination with autohemotherapy and the intake of calcium preparations, it is used to treat metastases of various sizes in bone tissues. Carrying out several courses, experts say, gives a good analgesic effect, partial regression of metastases is achieved (in 75% of cases).
Rapid Arc
Rapid Arc is positioned as the latest development in the field of cancer treatment. This is radiation therapy that uses visual control and changes in radiation intensity. The technology uses high-precision linear accelerators and computed tomography. The device moves around the patient, "attacking" the tumor from a variety of angles. Irradiation is ten times more powerful than that of the devices of the "older" generations. Treatment time is reduced by up to eighty percent.
Cyber Knife
Cyberknife is considered an innovation in the surgical treatment of malignant neoplasms. Affected tissue is removed using stereotactic radiosurgery. This sophisticated device combines the latest advances in robotics, radiation surgery, and computer technology. The operation takes place without pain and blood, and the intervention in the patient's body is minimal.
Brachytherapy
In brachytherapy, a radioactive source is implanted inside the tumor. This limits the area of exposure to radiation and protects healthy tissue.
Proton beam therapy
A promising area in the radiological treatment of cancer is proton radiation therapy. Malignant cells are exposed to beams of charged particles moving at a tremendous speed: heavy carbon ions and hydrogen protons. The method is more accurate than existing cancer treatments.
See also: Other treatments
The author of the article: Bykov Evgeny Pavlovich | Oncologist, surgeon
Education: graduated from residency at the Russian Scientific Oncological Center. N. N. Blokhin "and received a diploma in the specialty" Oncologist"
