Bone cancer may be of two basic types:
Primary bone cancer - cancer that begins in the bone
Secondary bone cancer - cancer that begins elsewhere in the body (for example lungs, breast, liver etc.) that has spread to the bone
Primary bone cancer is a rare form of cancer - about 500 cases are diagnosed in the UK each year (only about one in every 500 cancers).
Around 2,600 people in United States of America are diagnosed with primary or secondary bone cancer each year. Bone cancers make for 2% of all cancers in the USA.
How does bone cancer begin?
The cancer usually begins with bone pain that usually gets worse over time and may wake the affected person from sleep. There may be bone fractures on relatively less severe impact or trauma and swelling and tenderness over the affected area as well.
Joint movement may be difficult if the joints are affected. In addition, there may be weakness, weight loss, fever and other general symptoms. 1-6
Causes and risk factors
The exact causes of bone cancer are unknown. Risk factors include exposure to radiation in the past, having Paget’s disease of the bone that affects the growth cycle of the bone cells.
Only around 1% of persons with Paget’s disease may develop bone cancer. There is no evidence that an injury to the bone causes cancer. There may be a link to rare genetic conditions such as Li-Fraumeni syndrome.