Diagnosing A Bone Tumor
Fractures, infections, and other conditions might resemble tumors. To be sure you have a bone tumor, your doctor might order a variety of tests.
First, your doctor will do a physical exam with a focus on the area of your suspected tumor. Theyll check for tenderness in your bone and test your range of motion. Your doctor will also ask you questions about your family medical history.
Leg Bone Cancer Symptoms
Though pain is not associated with some of the major types of cancer, bone cancer can be an exception. Here is a brief overview of the symptoms of bone cancer in the leg.
Though pain is not associated with some of the major types of cancer, bone cancer can be an exception. Here is a brief overview of the symptoms of bone cancer in the leg.
The term cancer covers a group of diseases in which abnormal cells divide without cause and control, thereby invading and harming other tissues. There are different types of cancer, that are named according to the affected location. The condition may develop in bones too, and such cancers are collectively referred to as sarcomas. Cancer that begins in the bone, is known as primary bone cancer as opposed to the cancer that spreads to the bone, but originates elsewhere. Typically, primary bone cancer is less common than cancer that spreads to the bone from another part of the body, which is referred to as secondary or metastatic bone cancer.
The nature and severity of the symptoms may vary, according to the location and the size of the tumor. Legs are among those locations that are more prone to develop bone cancer.
Symptoms
Diagnosis and Treatment
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only, and should not be used as a replacement for expert medical advice. Visiting your physician is the safest way to diagnose and treat any health condition.
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What Are The Types Of Osteosarcoma
Osteosarcoma tumors can be categorized as low-grade, intermediate-grade, or high-grade. Low-grade means that your cancer will grow slowly and remain where it began , while high-grade indicates that it will spread quickly and metastasize.
Most osteosarcoma tumors found in children and teenagers are high-grade. The cells of high-grade osteosarcoma dont look like normal bone under a microscope. There are nine types of high-grade osteosarcomas:
There is one type of immediate-grade osteosarcoma:
- Periosteal (juxtacortical immediate grade.
And, there are two types of low-grade osteosarcomas:
- Intramedullary or intraosseous well-differentiated .
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When To Seek Medical Advice
See your GP if you or your child experiences persistent, severe or worsening bone pain, or if you’re worried you have any of the other symptoms of bone cancer.
While it’s highly unlikely that your symptoms are caused by cancer, it’s best to be sure by getting a proper diagnosis.
Read more about diagnosing bone cancer.
Page last reviewed: 20 June 2021 Next review due: 20 June 2024
Symptoms Of Childhood Bone Cancer
The symptoms of childhood bone cancer may vary depending on which bone it starts in. Childhood bone cancer can develop in any bone in the body.
Other health conditions can also cause the same symptoms as childhood bone cancer. Symptoms can be present for several months before a diagnosis is made. Sometimes the cancer is diagnosed after an injury does not heal properly. The injury is not the cause of the bone cancer, but it draws attention to a problem with that bone.
Symptoms of childhood bone cancer include:
Pain is the most common symptom of childhood bone cancer. It is often felt in the bone or joint close to where the tumour develops. The pain can be sharp or dull. It might be worse at night. It may also get worse with activity or lifting, depending on the location of the tumour.
Swelling or a lump is another common sign of childhood bone cancer. The lump or swelling is often soft and can feel warm. These signs are often easier to see if the tumour is in a leg or arm. A tumour in the chest or pelvis may not be noticed until it grows larger.
Other symptoms of bone cancer include:
- limping if cancer is in a leg
- difficulty moving the arm or the leg with cancer
- a bone that breaks for no reason
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How Are Benign Bone Tumors Treated
If your tumor is benign, it may or may not require action. Sometimes doctors just keep an eye on benign bone tumors to see if they change over time. This requires coming back periodically for follow-up X-rays.
Bone tumors can grow, stay the same, or eventually disappear. Children have a higher likelihood of having their bone tumors disappear as they mature.
However, your doctor may want to surgically remove the benign tumor. Benign tumors can sometimes spread or transform into malignant tumors. Bone tumors can also lead to fractures.
How Is Bone Cancer Treated
Bone cancer treatment depends on the type of cancer, whether it has spread and if so, where. People with bone cancer often work with a team of healthcare providers to treat the condition. This group includes doctors who specialize in cancer and doctors who specialize in bones and joints .
Bone cancer treatment typically involves a combination of approaches. The type and duration of these treatments vary depending on several factors, including the type of bone cancer, the size of the tumor and whether it has spread to other parts of the body. The treatments most commonly used include:
- Surgery: Your surgeon removes the tumor and some healthy tissue around it. They can also repair or rebuild affected bones with real or artificial bone grafts. Sometimes, an entire limb must be removed to treat cancer. In this case, an artificial limb can be used. Sometimes repeat surgery is needed if all of the cancer cells were not removed the first time around.
- Radiation therapy: This treatment shrinks the tumors with high doses of X-rays. Healthcare providers often use radiation before surgery to shrink the tumor so less tissue has to be removed.
- Chemotherapy: This type of treatment kills cancer cells throughout the body with medicine. People usually receive this medicine by swallowing a pill or having it injected into a vein. Your provider can use chemotherapy to treat primary bone cancers or bone cancers that have spread.
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Bone Cancer Knee Symptoms
Osteosarcoma is the second most prevalent type of bone cancer in humans. Roughly 50 percent of osteosarcoma cases occur in or around the knee area. Catching osteosarcoma early greatly improves your chances of recovery and knowing what signs to look for will help aid you in this process.
Night Pain
Osteosarcoma in the knee will become more prevalent at night. If your knee pain worsens at night, ask you doctor to check for signs of osteosarcoma.
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Swelling
If the tumor grows large enough, it may look like you have swelling in the knee. This type of swelling will not be cured through the use of anti-inflammatory medications.
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Weakness
The affected knee bones will not be as strong as normal knee bones and may fracture with minimal trauma.
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Exercise
The pain may also increase after exercise, standing for long periods of time, or after walking for extended periods of time.
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Onset
The onset of knee pain is usually very fast and normally occurs suddenly. The longer youre afflicted by this condition, the worse the pain will get.
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Bone Cancer Symptoms: 12 Warning Signs Of Bone Cancer You Should Not Ignore
Bone tumors can be of two different types. They may arise from the bone tissue, and we call them primary bone tumors. But we also have secondary bone, those that metastasize from other tumors and form secondary metastatic masses in the bones.
Primary bone tumors are relatively rare after the fourth decade of life and less frequent as compared to secondary bone tumors. Primary bone tumors can be either benign or malignant. Bone tumors can be classified according to the type of cells in the tumors as bone-forming tumors, cartilage-forming tumors, giant cell tumors, and bone marrow tumors.
Benign bone-forming tumors include osteoma, osteoid osteoma, and osteoblastoma. The malignant counterparts include primary and secondary osteosarcoma. Cartilage-forming benign tumors of the bone include osteochondroma, enchondroma, chondroblastoma, and chondromyxoid fibroma. The malignant cartilage-forming bone tumors are named chondrosarcoma. Giant cell tumor of the bones is also known as osteoclastoma, which is usually benign, but if left untreated, it can transform into a malignant tumor. The last type is bone tumors that arise from bone marrow, and they include Ewings sarcoma, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and plasma cell tumors.
Patient with bone tumors may have the following clinical features:
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Testing And Diagnosis For Osteosarcoma
Many symptoms of osteosarcoma can be easily ignored as normal growing pains in children, which makes regular check-ups and referrals to specialists extremely important. Prompt diagnosis and identification of cancer is crucial to successful treatment.
If your child has been referred to an orthopaedic or oncology specialist, your childs diagnostic evaluation will begin with a thorough medical history and physical examination. A detailed neurological assessment may also be performed. This involves a series of questions and tests to check your child’s brain, spinal cord and nerve function.
At Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia , clinical experts use a variety of diagnostic tests to diagnose tumors, including:
In addition to diagnosing the specific type of cancer your child may have, these tests will also help determine the size and location of the tumor, and stage of the cancer. All of this information is crucial in determining the best treatment options for your child.
Whats The Outlook For Osteosarcoma
The outlook depends on many factors, including:
- The size and location of the tumor.
- Whether the cancer has spread to other areas of your body.
- How the tumor responds to treatment.
- The ability of your immune system to fight the cancer.
- Overall health.
- The grade and stage of the tumor.
- The subtype of osteosarcoma.
Because of improvements in chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and control of side effects, more people with osteosarcoma are achieving better results, experiencing full recovery and living longer.
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Ewing Sarcoma Family Of Tumors
Ewing sarcoma family of tumors strikes adolescents and young adults, but these tumors can sometimes affect children as young as 5 years old. This type of bone cancer usually shows up in the legs , pelvis, backbone, ribs, upper arms, and the skull.
It begins in the cavities of the bones where the bone marrow is produced . In addition to thriving in bone, ESFTs can also grow in soft tissue, such as fat, muscle, and blood vessels. According to the , African-American children very rarely develop ESFTs. Males are more likely to develop ESFTs than females. ESFTs grow and spread rapidly.
Q& a: Pancreatic Cancer Risk Symptoms And Treatment
My mother recently was diagnosed with diabetes, but due to abdominal pain and other issues, her doctor suspects she might have pancreatic cancer. How is pancreatic cancer diagnosed and what are the symptoms to watch for?
ANSWER: I am so sorry to hear about your mother’s recent issues. It can be a scary time for everyone when there is uncertainty related to a cancer diagnosis, let alone general health issues.
Although it is not a common form of cancer, pancreatic cancer is a very serious disease and is considered one of the least survivable cancers. This is because it spreads, or metastasizes, quickly before symptoms appearoften resulting in late detection. Approximately 60,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer annually in the U.S., with the average age of diagnosis at 70. However, the incidence of diagnosis in younger people is steadily increasing.
As with many other cancers, only a small fraction of pancreatic cancer cases have specific, known heritable genetic causes, but there is an increased risk if other immediate family members have been affected. For most people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, there is no obvious predilection, but there are some known risk factors. Smoking is one of the most common to be strongly associated with pancreatic cancer risk.
If a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is confirmed, then additional studies, such as positron emission tomography scan, may be useful. Patients are then clinically “staged” according to all these results.
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Are There Any Treatments Or Medications That Relieve Bone Cancer Pain
Analgesics treat the pain of bone cancer. These may be nonprescription or prescription medications. Mild-to-moderate pain is treated with medications such as acetaminophen or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications , including ibuprofen and naproxen . However, people taking anticancer chemotherapy drugs sometimes must avoid NSAIDs because of increased risk of bleeding.
Prescription medications are used for moderate-to-severe cancer pain. Opioids stronger narcotic pain medications like codeine, morphine, oxycodone, hydromorphone, and fentanyl may be required to control severe pain. Sometimes a combination of medications is used to treat cancer pain. Opioid medications can be associated with side effects like drowsiness, constipation, and nausea.
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Symptoms Of Bone Cancer
The symptoms of bone cancer will vary, depending on the size of the cancer and where it is in the body.
Primary bone cancer is very rare. It is much more likely that some other problem is causing your symptoms. But it’s important to get any symptoms checked out by your GP.
Cancer can also spread to your bones from somewhere else. This is called secondary or metastatic bone cancer. The signs and symptoms of secondary bone cancer may be different.
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How Is Bone Cancer Diagnosed
To diagnose bone cancer, your healthcare provider will often first use X-rays to view images of your bones. Magnetic resonance imaging and CT scans provide more detailed images of the areas around the bones and are usually obtained before any treatment.
To confirm the diagnosis, your healthcare provider will perform a biopsy, where a small piece of tissue is removed from the bone to be examined under a microscope. A biopsy provides specific information about the cancer, including where it formed. Having this information helps providers know which course of treatment will work best for the specific cancer.
What Are The Causes Of Bone Tumors
The causes of bone tumors arent known. A few possible causes are genetics, radiation treatment, and injuries to the bones. Osteosarcoma has been linked to radiation treatment and other anticancer drugs, especially in children. However, a direct cause hasnt been identified.
The tumors often occur when parts of the body are growing rapidly. People whove had bone fractures repaired with metal implants are also more likely to develop osteosarcoma later.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Joint Pain
Joint pain can be mild or severe. The pain can last a short time or it can be long-lasting. It can also be sudden or sharp pain during movement or it can be constant pain that does not go away when you rest. Joint pain can affect your ability to do everyday activities.
Joint pain can be associated with other symptoms, such as:
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Limited range of movement
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Joint stiffness after inactivity or during activity
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Joint swelling or tenderness, which is when the joint hurts when pressed on
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Redness or warmth at a joint
These symptoms can indicate inflammation of the joint. Joint inflammation can be due to an infection, autoimmune disease, or other causes. Joint inflammation is also called arthritis. Your health care team can help you find out why joint inflammation is happening.
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Blood And Urine Tests
Your doctor may order tests, including blood or urine samples. A lab will analyze these fluids to detect different proteins that may indicate the presence of a tumor or other medical problems.
An alkaline phosphatase test is one common tool doctors use to diagnose bone tumors. When your bone tissue is especially active in forming cells, large quantities of this enzyme show up in your blood. This could be because a bone is growing, such as in young people, or it could mean a tumor is producing abnormal bone tissue. This test is more reliable in people whove stopped growing.
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Causes Of Bone Cancer
Cancer occurs when the cells in a certain area of your body divide and multiply too rapidly. This produces a lump of tissue known as a tumour.
The exact reason why this happens is often not known, but certain things can increase your chance of developing the condition, including:
- other bone conditions, such as Pagets disease of the bone
- rare genetic conditions, such as Li-Fraumeni syndrome
- a history of certain other conditions, including retinoblastoma and umbilical hernia
These risk factors are described in more detail below.
How Bone Cancer Is Treated
Treatment for bone cancer depends on the type of bone cancer you have and how far it has spread.
Most people have a combination of:
- surgery to remove the section of cancerous bone its often possible to reconstruct or replace the bone thats been removed, but amputation is sometimes necessary
- chemotherapy treatment with powerful cancer-killing medicine
- radiotherapy where radiation is used to destroy cancerous cells
In some cases of osteosarcoma, a medicine called mifamurtide may also be recommended.
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