Symptoms of bone cancer: how to recognize?

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Bone cancer, or primary bone cancer, is a rare cancer that forms in any of the bones in the body. Pain is the most common symptom of bone cancer. Other symptoms of bone cancer can include swelling, fatigue and fever. Doctors use multiple scans and tests to confirm a diagnosis because bone cancer symptoms resemble those of other medical conditions. Treatment of symptoms generally depends on the type of bone cancer.

According to medical sources, bone cancer symptoms most often affect children and young adults. Bone cancer can develop in any of the 206 bones in the body, but it commonly forms in the longer bones found in the arms and legs. Both benign and malignant tumors grow and crowd around healthy bone tissue. Unlike benign tumors, malignant bone cancer damages surrounding bone tissue and spreads to other parts of the body.

Persistent and sharp pain is one of the most common symptoms of bone cancer, followed by other difficulties. The cancerous tumor can weaken bones and cause fractures that lead to pain, which gets worse at night. The spread of the tumor itself also causes pain within the bones because it compresses against other bone tissue. You should seek medical evaluation as soon as possible if pain in the joint or limb area is interfering with your daily life. Pain can indicate bone cancer or another condition that causes similar symptoms.

Other symptoms of bone cancer include swelling or stiffness at the site of the bone, which interferes with normal joint movement. Bone cancer destroys healthy cells and forms abnormal cells that cause tumors. Tumors that form in or near bony joints often cause swelling. If fever accompanies the discomfort, this could indicate bone cancer.

Fatigue is also another bone symptom, as are other cancers. According to medical sources, fatigue can result from cancer attacking your body or from side effects of cancer treatment. Other underlying factors that cause fatigue can include pain that disrupts sleep. Lack of nutrition can also contribute to fatigue because cancer symptoms can affect appetite, which in turn contributes to unexplained weight loss. Anemia can be another symptom of bone cancer if the cancer has spread to the bone marrow, interfering with blood cell counts.

Primary bone cancer falls into a few different categories that occur depending on the person’s age and the location of the tumor. Chondrasarcoma occurs when a tumor forms in the cartilage cells in areas such as the shoulder, upper leg, and pelvis. Osteosarcoma develops in bone cells found in the arms and knees, while Ewing’s sarcoma begins in nerve tissue usually found in the spine, pelvis, or blood vessels. Condrasarcoma is said to occur primarily in adults 40 years of age and older. Ewing’s sarcoma and osteosarcoma, however, can develop in children and adults.
If you are experiencing any of the bone cancer symptoms, consulting your GP would be the first step. You will likely get a referral to a cancer specialist known as an oncologist, who will order a series of tests to confirm your bone cancer symptoms. Imaging tests, such as an X-ray and positron emission tomography (PET) scan, detect tumors and other abnormalities. Your doctor may also test your blood for elevated levels of alkaline phosphatase, an enzyme that becomes active when bones grow or heal. The lab test also checks for abnormal bone tissue that can indicate cancer.

A biopsy involves taking a sample of bone tissue to examine it for cancer. If all tests confirm a bone cancer diagnosis, treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and cryosurgery. During surgery, the doctor removes the entire tumor, which can sometimes involve removing an entire limb. Patients who choose chemotherapy must take anticancer drugs, while radiation therapy uses X-rays to kill cancer cells. In cryosurgery, the doctor freezes and kills cancerous cells with the help of liquid nitrogen.

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