The Symptons & Treatment Of Osteogenic Sarcoma
Osteosarcoma is sometimes called osteogenic sarcoma. It is the most common kind of bone cancer in children and teens. It can affect adults too, but teenage boys are most likely to get it. It happens when the cells that grow new bone form a cancerous tumor. The treatment for osteosarcoma, chemotherapy & surgery to remove the tumor, is usually successful when the disease is diagnosed early on, before it can spread. In children and teens, osteosarcoma often happens at the end of long bones, where bone grows quickest. Most tumors develop around the knee, either in the lower part of the thigh bone or the upper part of the shinbone. They also may grow in the upper arm bone close to the shoulder. Osteosarcoma can develop in any bone in your body, especially in older adults.
The condition stems from an error in your child’s DNA, or genetic code. Bone-growing cells make osteosarcoma tumors by mistake. Teenagers who are having a “growth spurt” are most likely to get it, and taller kids may be more at risk. There may also be a link between the speed of the growth spurt and tumor development, but scientists are still studying this. Treatments like radiation therapy for other types of cancer, or cancer medicines called alkylating agents, can also make this disease more likely. Certain illnesses, like Paget’s disease of the bone or a type of eye cancer called hereditary retinoblastoma, may also raise the risk.
Warning signs include : Swelling or lumps around bones or the ends of bones Bone or joint pain or soreness. This pain may come and go for monthsBroken bones that don’t seem to be caused by normal events like a fall. Your child may have pain at night or after he plays or exercises. He might get a limp if osteosarcoma affects his legs. Tell your doctor about these symptoms right away. Your child may need to be tested to see if cancer is causing the pain, swelling, or breaks.
The doctor will ask you about your child's medical history and your family health background. He’ll check your child’s body for unusual lumps around bones, or to figure out what’s causing the pain. He may do imaging tests like x-rays, ct scans, Mri’s or bone scans. These can show unusual changes in bones that may be signs of osteosarcoma. They can also show areas where the tumor may have spread. If your doctor sees signs of the disease on imaging tests, our child may need a biopsy. A surgeon will take a small sample of bone or tissue from a painful or swollen area. This test may show cancer cells in the bone, or if cancer cells have spread to muscles or areas around the bone. Your medical team will work closely to make sure that the biopsy is done in a way that doesn’t interfere with possible surgical treatments.
Types of biopsy procedures used to diagnose osteosarcoma include : Needle biopsy : the doctor will insert a thin needle through the skin and guides it into the tumor. The needle is used to remove small pieces of tissue from the tumorSurgical biopsy : the doctor will make an incision through the skin and removes either the entire tumor ( excisional biopsy ) or a portion of the tumor ( incisional biopsy );There are different kinds of treatment for osteosarcoma. It depends on several things, such as where the tumor is, how fast it’s growing, and whether it has spread. One treatment is Chemotherapy. “Chemo” uses powerful medications to kill cancer cells or stop them from growing. You usually get them through an IV tube. Doctors treat most osteosarcomas with chemo. Your child’s doctor will talk with you about the timing of the chemo and surgery. Chemo may shrink the tumor, which makes surgery easier. It also gets rid of small clusters of cancer cells in the body that doctors may not be able to see on medical scans. Children tend to have less severe side effects from chemo than adults.
Because of this, your child’s cancer doctor may use higher doses of chemo to try to kill the tumor. Some side effects may include nausea and vomiting, not feeling hungry, and diarrhea. Another treatment is Radiation Therapy. Usually, doctors don’t use radiation to treat osteosarcoma. But the doctor may talk with you about this option in certain circumstances. Doctors can use high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. It doesn’t work as well on osteosarcoma calls as it may with the cells of other cancers. But your doctor might consider what’s called external beam radiation therapy if surgery can’t remove all the cancer. That often happens when the tumor is in the hip or jaw bone. This type of therapy focuses high-energy beams on the tumor from a machine outside the body to kill the remaining cancer cells.
The goal of surgery is to remove all the cancer. If even a small number of cancer cells are left behind, they can grow into a new number. For tumors in the arms and the legs : In most cases, your surgeon will be able to remove the tumor and some of the tissue around it and save your child’s limb. A special medical device, or prosthesis, will fill in part or all of the gap left in the bone. Your doctor may also consider a bone graft, which uses a piece of bone from another part of the body or a donor. If the tumor is large and has gotten into nerves or blood vessel, the surgeon may have to amputate or remove all or part of your child’s leg or arm.
Depending on how much needs to be amputated, your child may need to get fitted for an artificial limb, or prosthetic. Each of these surgeries can have short-term side effects and cause long-term social and emotional issues. For tumors in other areas : Osteosarcoma tha forms in the pelvis, jaw bone, spine, or skull may be harder to remove completely with surgery. For this kind of cancer, some people also need radiation therapy. If the cancer spreads to the lungs or elsewhere, those tumors also need to be surgically removed.
