Types

Types of Bone CancerBones serve various purposes in the body. They protect and support the organs in the body. For instance, the brain is protected by the skull and the lungs are protected by the ribs. Blood cells are made and stored in the bone marrow, the spongy and soft tissue that many bone have in their center.Primary bone cancer occurs most commonly in the legs and arms, although it can also affect other bones of the body. Primary bone cancers are usually referred to as sarcomas, of which there are several types. Each type of sarcoma affects a different type of bone tissue, with the most common being: chondrosarcoma; Ewing’s sarcoma; and osteosarcoma.Chondrosarcoma: This type of bone cancer occurs mostly in adults. It affects the cartilage, which is the rubber-like tissue that is around...

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Symptoms

Symptoms of bone cancerThe symptoms of bone cancer vary from one person to another according to the location and size of the bone cancer. Pain is one of the most common bone cancer symptoms. Generally, there is a gradual increase in the severity of the symptoms with time. At first, the pain may only be felt with activity or at night. According to the growth of the cancerous tumor, people may experience the symptoms for weeks, perhaps even months, sometimes even years until they seek medical help. Sometimes a lump or mass may occur either in the tissues that surround the bone or on the bone itself. This commonly occurs with fibrosarcoma or MFH,...

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Causes

Causes of bone cancerThe exact cause of most bone cancers is not known. But we do know that certain risk factors are linked to this disease. A risk factor is something that affects a person's chance of getting a disease. Some risk factors, such as smoking, can be controlled. Others, like a person's age or race, can't be changed. But having a risk factor, or even several, does not mean that you will get cancer. Most people with bone cancer do not have any known risk factors.The risk factors for bone cancer are often linked to having had other diseases, treatments for other diseases, or age. The following conditions can slightly increase the risk of bone cancer. If you have any of these, you should ask your doctor for more information.Li-Fraumeni syndrome Rothmund-Thompson syndrome retinoblastoma...

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Bone cancer

What is bone cancerBone is the supporting framework of the body. Most bones are hollow. The outer part of bones consists of a network of fibrous tissue called matrix onto which calcium salts are laid down. The soft tissue inside hollow bones is called bone marrow. At each end of the bone is a zone of, a softer form of bone-like tissue called cartilage. Cartilage is made of a fibrous tissue matrix mixed with a gel-like substance that does not contain much calcium. Cartilage is softer than bone but more firm than most tissues. Most bones start out as cartilage. The body then lays calcium down onto the cartilage to form bone. After the bone is...

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Types of liver cancer

Types of liver cancer Some cancers begin in the cells of the liver itself – these are called primary liver cancer. More commonly, cancers start in cells in other organs of the body but then spread to the liver – this is called secondary liver cancer. Your doctor may use the term ‘liver metastasis’ (which is another way of saying that cancer has spread to the liver). It is possible for there to be several cancer deposits (metastases) in the liver.There is more than one sort of primary liver cancer. One such type starts within the cells which make up most of the liver tissue – this is known as a hepatoma, or sometimes hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC for short). Another type begins in the cells which line the tubes (or ducts) that carry the bile out of the liver – this bile duct cancer is known...

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Treatment of liver cancer

Treatment of liver cancerThe treatment options are dictated by the stage of liver cancer and the overall condition of the patient. The only proven cure for liver cancer is liver transplantation for a solitary, small (<3cm) tumor. Now, many physicians may dispute this statement. They may argue that a small tumor can be surgically removed (partial hepatic resection) without the need for a liver transplantation. Moreover, they may claim that the one and three year survival rates for resection are perhaps comparable to those for liver transplantation.The results of the various medical treatments (chemotherapy, chemoembolization, ablation, and proton beam therapy) remain disappointing. Moreover, for reasons noted earlier (primarily the variability in natural history), there have been no systematic...

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Symptoms of liver

Symptoms of liver cancerThe initial symptoms (the clinical presentations) of liver cancer are variable. In countries where liver cancer is very common, the cancer generally is discovered at a very advanced stage of disease for several reasons.For one thing, areas where there is a high frequency of liver cancer are generally developing countries where access to healthcare is limited. For another, screening examinations for patients at risk for developing liver cancer are not available in these areas.In addition, patients from these regions actually have more aggressive liver cancer disease. In other words, the tumor usually reaches an advanced stage and causes symptoms more rapidly. In contrast, patients in areas of low liver cancer frequency tend to have liver cancer tumors that progress...

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