Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment of Bone Cancer Sarcoma

Bone cancer sarcoma is so called because it has its origin in the bones. Bone cancer, when compared with others like metastatic (cancer that started in another organ and spread to bone tissues), is very rare. However, it can afflict people of different ages. Let us look at its causes, symptoms, and treatment options available.

Causes

The causes of bone cancer sarcoma are hard to pinpoint. However, efforts have been made by researchers to identify factors that might be responsible for bone cancer and other risk factors that might increase the likelihood of developing this rare type of cancer. It is understood, however, that heredity is one likely cause of bone cancer.

The female hormone, estrogen, can trigger the development of bone cancer depending on the timing of first menstruation. The female whose first menstrual period began before the age of 11 may develop bone cancer later on because they were exposed to high level of estrogen.

Symptoms

Bone cancer sarcoma symptoms are often linked to the location of the bone and common symptom associated with bone cancer are tenderness, swelling, and pain in the affected area. Lumps may also be noticed. However, one should not rush to conclude that any of these symptoms are limited to bone cancer.

Treatments

There are various treatment options available for bone cancer sarcoma. Upon diagnosis, any of the followings may be recommended:

Surgery: This treatment option is often extensive and may include the removal of a wide margin of tissue surrounding the cancerous tumor. In addition, treatment for sarcoma that involves muscles will require removing the entire affected muscles.

Chemotherapy: Some drugs have been used effectively for the treatment of bone and soft tissue sarcoma. But, this does not come without side effects because chemotherapy requires dosages for providing a great chance to cure. Effective chemotherapy agents include cyclophosphamide, etoposide, vincristine, ifosfamide, doxorubicin, and others.

Hormone Therapy: This involves the removal of organs producing hormones and promoting the growth of specific cancer types (testosterone and estrogen). It could also include drug therapy for preventing hormones from promoting the growth of cancer.

However, this treatment option does not guarantee a complete cure for bone cancer because, even after the removal of bone or soft tissue sarcoma, there are still some significant risks of small tumors left undetected developing again and spreading to other regions in the body.

Despite the challenging treatment options, chances of recovery have improved significantly with development in technology.