Essay On Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is also called osteogenic sarcoma in medical term (“Osteosarcoma”, n.d.). This cancer usually develops in growing bones. Although it can occur at any age, it‘s most commonly found in teenagers and young adults and is slightly more common in males than females. Any bone in the body can be affected, but the most common sites are the arms or legs, particularly around the knee joint(“Osteosarcoma: An Introduction.”, 2012). This cancer is caused by benign tumors and other bone diseases, radiation exposure, genetic factors, children, adolescents, males more than females.(“Osteosarcoma: An Introduction.”, 2012)

The symptoms form Ewing’s sarcoma is pain, swelling, stiffness, or tenderness of the bone or the surrounding tissue. There may also be a lump near the surface of the skin that may feel warm and soft to the touch. The patients may also have a fever that does not go away. The sarcoma may cause weakening of the bone with the tumor, resulting in the integrity of the bone, thereby having the bone break due to a very minor injury.

However, with medicine advancing, we are able to understand osteosarcoma a little better. Recent studies in the past couple of months have looked at cadavers with osteosarcoma, thanks to patients who have donated their bodies to science. Upon this research they found many new discoveries, such as the direction it tends to grow and where the cancer is most likely to spread. The advancement of medicine found out that the most common way to die from osteosarcoma was pulmonary metastatic disease. This disease is caused from cancer cells spreading to the lungs.When the cancer from the osteosarcoma spreads throughout the body, it often ends up in the lungs, which then begins the vicious stages of lung cancer. Symptoms of osteosarcoma include pain and swelling, usually around the upper arm or knee, and bones that are easily fractured. The bones tend to fracture very easily where the osteosarcoma is

Patients with a tumor that has spread to the spinal bones possibly will build up nerve damage that can lead to paralysis or loss of the use of the legs and/or arms (Fischer and Quinn, 2011).

* Bone injuries and fractures occur when the myeloma cells invade the bone. Osteolytic bone fractures appear as punched out areas on x-ray. Bone pain is experienced especially in the back, pelvis, ribs and skull.

Osteosarcoma(OS) is a primary malignant tumor of bone which is characterized by the formation of osteoid tissue. Although it is the most common malignancy of long bones after multiple myeloma [2], it is a relatively rarer entity in the craniofacial region. About 6% of Oss arise in the jaws .The estimated incidence of the new cases of Jaw OS (JOS) per year is 0 .07 in 100,000. (1) The etiology of OS is unknown, but some risk factors such as a previous history of ionizing radiation, alkylating agent, retinoblastoma and benign bone lesions such as paget disease and fibro osseous dysplasia have been associated with the development of head and neck OS.(2-4) JOS occur with a peak in the third through fifth decades of life. The mean age is

Multiple myeloma damages the bones and causes other health problems because of the effect on blood cells. The disease progresses and reduces

There are 206 bones in the adult human skeleton; these bones relate to movement, posture, and protect internal organs (American society of Clinical Oncology, 2012).Bones connect to bones with ligaments and are covered and protected by cartilage (American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2012).Cancer of the bone is rare but is caused by normal bone marrow and tissues inside the bone that change and form tumors(American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2012). The tumor happens in the bone and is benign it does not spread (American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2012). The benign tumor can press against surrounding tissues and weaken the bone it it grows big enough (American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2012). Malignant bone tumors break the surrounding tissue and cortex, hard covering of the bone (American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2012). The tumor can then get into the bloodstream and spread all over the body (American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2012). Osteosarcoma and ewing sarcoma are the two most common type of bone cancer (American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2012). Chondrosarcoma is more common in adults and is cancer of the cartilage (American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2012). The last type of bone cancer is chordoma which usually starts in the lower spinal cord (American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2012). Ewing sarcoma is a type of bone cancer that affects the hip, rib, and middle of bone most often (National Cancer Institution, 2015). Ewing

On April 1, 2005, I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and immediately went through intense rounds of chemotherapy at the age of eight. The affected area originated in large tumor on my thigh, but it soon spread through my entire femur. I had many surgeries, including an eleven hour surgery that removed my entire femur. I am physically disabled, hard of hearing, and have a weak heart. Because I cannot bend my leg, I cannot participate in regular activities such as bicycling or sports. Also, I experience intense pain when I stand for more than ten minutes. I was always told that I would not be able to do certain things- mainly in the educational field, but time and time again I have proven my doctors wrong. I have been a straight A student since being released from the hospital. I have been in Top Ten every year and won many awards. Although my physical abilities are limited, I have still accomplished a lot for someone who was proclaimed ‘dying’ by doctors years ago. Cancer did not take my life,

Bone cancer is considered as a rare disease in which cancer cells grow in the bone tissue. It requires to be treated immediately because when bone tumor grows, it presses on healthy bone tissue and can destroy it, which causes pain and swelling where the tumor is located. People has bone cancer will experience burning pain at the early stage and as the tumor develops, the pain become more persistent. Beside that, the bone can easily break due to the cancerous cells can weaken the bone. In some cases, if the tumor grows near a joint, it may make normal movements

An important factor when treating canine osteosarcoma is managing bone pain. Cronin (2008), a veterinary oncologist, believes pain management is challenging when treating osteosarcoma (as cited in Osborne, 2008). She mentions, “Amputation effectively relieves bone pain and is the standard of care for patients…” (as cited in Osborne, 2008). Amputation of the affected limb manages pain and improves the quality of life when combined with other treatments (as cited in Osborne, 2008). As a result, dogs are usually treated with chemotherapy (“Bone cancer in dogs”,

According to the Mayo Clinic (2013), Osteosarcoma sign and symptoms include the following: pain in and around the bone, swelling and tenderness near the affected site, broken or fractured bones, fatigue and unexplained weight loss. American Cancer Society (2014), says pain in the bone is the most common indicator. Initially, the pain is intermittent and occurs mainly at night. The pain gets worse with any physical activities. If a tumor is in the lower extremity, it may cause a limp. Edema in the region of the pain may not be prominent for a few weeks. You may be able to palpate a lump, depending on its location. Symptoms often go unnoticed in children and teens because pain or swelling in the limb is rather common in normal, active kids and adolescences. Unfortunately because of this, cancer goes undetected for a period of time. Osteosarcoma will weaken the bone in which it was formed, but the bone will not break. Most of the time, people with a fracture next to an osteosarcoma describe that the extremity was aching for a few months, but later noticed it became very painful once the fracture happened.

Osteosarcomas are primary malignant tumors of the bone characterized by the production of osteoid or immature bone by malignant cells. Although uncommon in general, they are the most common primary malignancy of bone in children and adolescents, and the fifth most common malignancy among adolescents and young adults age 15–19 years old. There is a bimodal age distribution of osteosarcoma incidence, with peaks in early adolescence and in adults over the age of 65. In children, the majority of cases are sporadic, while in older adults, about one third of the cases arise in the setting of Paget disease of the bone. Risk factors include prior irradiation or chemotherapy, Paget disease and other benign bone lesions, and inherited conditions. The majority of patients with osteosarcoma present with localized pain over several months’ duration. The pain commonly begins after an injury and may wax and wane over time. The most important finding on physical examination is a soft tissue mass, which may be large and tender to palpation. Osteosarcomas are commonly found in the metaphyseal region of the long bones, most commonly the distal femur and proximal tibia. Laboratory evaluation may find elevations in alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Characteristic features found on plain radiographs include destruction of the normal trabecular bone pattern, indistinct margins, and lack of endosteal bone

Extraskeletal osteosarcoma of the orbit is a disease of the skeletal system. In this scientific journal a twenty-two year old man who had multiple symptoms, including: increased swelling of the left eye and occasional pain. At first the patient seemed perfectly healthy with no symptoms indicative of cancer. His vision and ocular movement were up to par. However, a CT scan revealed a homogeneous mass in the left orbit. The tumor was not attached to the bone so the diagnosis is extraskeletal osteosarcoma. The patient underwent left frontal transcranial orbitotomy and complete removal of the tumor. This type of cancer is usually only present in the patient’s 40th or 50th years of life.

Limb salvage is now standard thanks to the advances in imaging and radiation therapy. Chemotherapy has poor results in treating sarcoma but is indicated in unresectable or metastatic sarcomas 5. Radiation has been shown to reduce the local recurrence of soft tissue sarcomas but does not significantly decrease the risk of distant metastases.