Osteosarcoma - Maximed Turkey
What is Osteosarcoma?
Osteosarcoma is a type of bone cancer that develops in the thin layer of tissue lining your bones. Osteosarcomas are more common in adolescent and teenage boys than in girls. This disease is rare in children younger than 10 years of age, but it is one of the most common bone cancers in older children and young adults.
There are two main types of osteosarcoma - conventional
or high-grade, and low-grade. The prognosis for each type varies greatly based
on the extent to which cancer has spread, how quickly it grows back after
treatment, etc. However, the prognosis is guarded if treatment is successful.
The American Cancer Society estimates that in the
United States in 2007 there were 58,630 new cases of osteosarcoma and 12,300
deaths from this disease. [Source: American Cancer Society ]
Osteosarcoma is a highly treatable cancer, which means
that if you get it treated early enough, it has a very good prognosis.
If you get cancer treated at all because it has spread
or because the cancer treatments are working - cancer is still curable! So get
treatment as soon as possible. If you do get osteosarcoma, treatment will
consist of surgery and radiation therapy.
Who is At Risk For Osteosarcoma?
Certain factors can increase your risk for developing
osteosarcoma, including certain genetic mutations, smoking or chewing tobacco,
and certain past medical conditions. These are not the only cause of the
disease. However, most physicians believe that identifying these factors can be
helpful to identify people who may need proactive treatment.
What Are The Symptoms Of Osteosarcoma?
Osteosarcomas often do not present symptoms until they
have developed into large tumors or lesions on your bones that disrupt your
normal function. However, several symptoms may help you determine whether you
have osteosarcoma, even if the lesion is still very small.
The most common of these involves a growing pain or
tenderness on or near a bone. These can sometimes be mistaken for growing pains
from overuse.
However, growing pains from overuse typically occur
only in specific bones—the thigh bone for example—but not all at once. If
growing pains do occur in several areas at the same time, it's worth checking
to see if any of them are caused by unusual lumps or lesions on your bones.
Although inflammatory diseases like arthritis can cause
pain and tenderness in your joints, these often affect multiple joints at once.
Arthritis can also be distinguished because it usually
involves swelling and redness in the affected joints—swelling that is typically
much more noticeable than just a small lump or lesion on the bone.
Another symptom of osteosarcoma is an unexplained knee,
ankle, foot, or lower leg pain that occurs when you're doing sports. The pain
may spread to other areas such as your thigh, hip, shoulder, arm, hand, and
neck. If you have any of these symptoms try to get them checked out right away
by a physician if only to rule out the possibility of osteosarcoma.
Frequently Asked Questions on
What is The Difference Between Osteosarcoma And Ewing Sarcoma?
Osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma are the same type of
tumor, but they are usually made up of different types of cells. Osteosarcoma
usually starts in young people (typically before the age of 20), whereas Ewing
sarcomas start at a later age.
What is Erythroblastic Leukemia?
Erythroblastic leukemia is a very rare cancer that's
found mainly in kids. It's often confused with osteosarcoma because it also
affects the bone marrow and causes blood cells to be released into your system.
However, erythroblastic leukemia is very different from osteosarcoma.
Primary bone cancers like osteosarcoma are more likely
to appear in people between the ages of 10 and 20, while patients with
erythroblastic leukemia get cancer in their early teens or later.
However, some people suffer from both erythroblastic leukemia and osteosarcoma. If you have erythroblastic leukemia your disease may be treated with radiation similar to this for cancer in other organs.
