Bone sarcoma: symptoms, causes, treatment

Sarcoma is a malignant neoplasm of non-epithelial genesis. All sarcomas develop from connective tissue cells( as opposed to cancer that develops from epithelial cells), and account for approximately 15% of all malignant tumors.

In this case, sarcoma of the bone is rare. Depending on the peculiarities of the cellular composition, the histological structure of the sarcoma of the bone is divided into the following types:

• osteosarcoma
• chondrosarcoma
• fibrosarcoma
• Ewing sarcoma
• neurosarcoma
• angiosarcoma

Among young people, children and adolescents most often occur Ewing sarcoma and osteogenic sarcoma of the femur( tibial,shoulder, pelvic and ulnar bones are affected a little less often).Older people are more susceptible to chondrosarcoma and fibrosarcoma.

Causes of the disease

The etiology of the onset of this disease is not fully understood. Factors contributing to the development of malignant tumors include the influence of carcinogens, exposure to harmful chemicals, radiation and even viruses. Very often the disease begins to develop after some kind of trauma. Although there is an opinion that trauma is only a trigger mechanism that triggers the development of the disease.

Sometimes bone sarcoma occurs when there is an anamnesis of benign bone diseases, fibrous dysplasia, Paget's disease.

Because femoral sarcoma is found mainly in children and adolescents, one of the reasons for its occurrence is the intensive growth of bone tissue. At the same time, it was established that boys are more likely to be affected by the disease.

Symptoms and Diagnosis

Unfortunately, the initial stage of the disease is very difficult to diagnose and has no pronounced signs. Dull pain can only be disturbed near the focus of the lesion, mainly at night. As the tumor grows, the pain symptom is strengthened and not taken off by usual analgesic drugs. Near the affected area, the venous network expands. Palpation of the joint causes severe pain. Metastases are very rapidly spreading, sometimes affecting the body's message.

For timely diagnosis of a malignant bone tumor, it is necessary to perform an X-ray and perform a biopsy even if there are minor pains and swelling of the joint. In no case should an anti-inflammatory and physiotherapy treatment be performed before the diagnosis is established, as this may contribute to the growth of the tumor.

If the malignant nature of the neoplasm is established, then for further study, computer tomography, MRI, intravenous examination with contrast is used. It is very important to correctly determine the stage of the disease for choosing the tactics of further treatment.

Treatment Methods

There are the following treatment options for sarcoma:

• Chemotherapy. Most often it is used in conjunction with surgical intervention and is performed both before surgery - to reduce tumor volumes, and after - to destroy individual malignant cells, prevent the occurrence of metastases and relapse of the disease.
• Operation. If earlier amputation of the damaged limb could not be avoided, nowadays sparing operations with removal of a site of a bone and use of metal, plastic or natural implants are widely applied. The presence of small metastases is removed by further chemotherapy and is not an obstacle to the operation.
• Radiotherapy. Most often it is used in case of impossibility of surgical intervention and chemotherapy. It has less effect in comparison with chemotherapy, since the sensitivity of malignant cells of bone sarcoma to radiation is low. However, there are some types of bone sarcoma( for example, Ewing's sarcoma), when radiotherapy is one of the main methods of treatment.

As in most cases of malignant oncological diseases, the probability of a positive outcome increases with timely diagnosis and prompt treatment. New technologies, including modern chemotherapy and organ-preserving surgeries, save up to 80% of patients.