Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Bone Cancer

If you've been recently diagnosed with osteosarcoma, you probably have many thoughts running through your head and you may feel unable to think clearly. Your doctor will understand this. You should feel free to ask questions about any concerns you may have. Be sure to take a pen and pad with you, as you probably won't remember all the answers. If the doctor uses words you don't understand, ask for an explanation.

Introduction

Bone cancer can start in the bones (primary bone cancer) or spread to the bones from a different part of the body (bone metastases). Osteosarcoma is one type of primary bone cancer. It can occur at any age, but is most common in individuals between the ages of 10 and 30. In addition, about 10 percent of osteosarcomas are found in people over 60.

What Is Osteosarcoma?

Osteosarcoma is the most common type of cancer that starts in the bone. It is most common in children and adolescents. The cells that form osteosarcoma make bone matrix, the material that makes bone strong. But the bone matrix produced by osteosarcoma cells is not as strong as the bone matrix produced by normal bone cells.

What Causes Osteosarcoma?

In general, cancer begins when a genetic mutation (change in certain genes) turns normal, healthy cells into abnormal cells. Healthy cells grow and multiply at a set rate and eventually die at a set time. Abnormal cells grow and multiply out of control, and they do not die. The abnormal cells clump together to create a mass (tumor). Cancer cells invade nearby tissues and can separate from an initial tumor to spread to other parts of the body (metastasize).

What Are Signs and Symptoms of Osteosarcoma?

Sometimes, people with osteosarcoma do not have any symptoms. In other cases, their symptoms are similar to those of other medical conditions. Osteosarcoma can cause any of the signs and symptoms listed below.

What Are the Stages of Osteosarcoma?

The stages of osteosarcoma are used to describe how far the cancer has spread in your body. The higher the stage number, the more widespread the cancer is. These stages are important when choosing the best treatments for you.

To choose your treatment, your doctor will probably decide which of the following three stages best describes your osteosarcoma:

How Is Osteosarcoma Diagnosed?

If you have some of the symptoms of osteosarcoma, your doctor will begin your diagnosis with a medical history and physical exam.

• Medical history and physical examination - Your doctor will take a complete medical history by asking you about your risk factors, symptoms, and other health problems or concerns. The doctor will also do a physical exam to look for signs of osteosarcoma and other health problems.

How Is Osteosarcoma Treated?

Your stage of osteosarcoma and your overall health will determine the method your doctor recommends for treating your illness. The mains ways of attacking osteosarcoma are surgery and chemotherapy (drugs). Radiation therapy is used in relatively few cases.

Your doctor will work with you to choose the best treatment for your osteosarcoma based on:

Treatment of Localized Osteosarcoma

Your surgeon will remove the cancer with limb-salvage surgery, if possible. If the tumor has grown into the nerves and/or blood vessels, it might not be possible to save the arm or leg. In this case, amputation, or removal of all or part of the limb along with the cancer, may be the only option.

Treatment of Metastatic Osteosarcoma

If your tumor has already spread at the time of diagnosis, surgery may still be considered. Alternatively, chemotherapy alone or radiation alone may be used. The likelihood of cure is much less than with localized disease. Some studies suggest that the location of metastases influences survival, with patients who have lung metastases faring better than those with spread to other bones.

Treatment of Recurrent Osteosarcoma

If your osteosarcoma comes back (recurs), this is most likely to happen within 2 or 3 years after treatment. Later recurrences are very rare. The most likely place for the cancer to recur is the lung. Attempted resection is probably the most appropriate initial treatment for patients who recur beyond one year after initial therapy with a small number of pulmonary nodules that do not invade the lining of the lung, and that can be completely removed by surgery (see below). Although some of these patients may be cured with surgery alone, most receive a combination of surgery plus chemotherapy. This depends on which treatments were given at the time of initial diagnosis.

Chemotherapy for Osteosarcoma

Chemotherapy drugs are used to kill cancer cells. These drugs destroy cancer that is still left after surgery, slow the tumor's growth, or reduce symptoms. Most cases of osteosarcoma are treated with chemotherapy before surgery to shrink the tumor (neoadjuvant therapy) and after surgery (adjuvant therapy) to kill any cancer cells left in the body. The chemotherapy drugs used for osteosarcoma are usually injected into a vein, although they are sometimes taken by mouth or injected under the skin to limit their side effects.

Radiation Therapy for Osteosarcoma

Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells. It can be given internally or externally:

Surgery for Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma can only be cured with surgery. The main types of surgery for osteosarcomas that start in the arms or legs are surgery to remove the cancer without removing the arm or leg (limb-salvage surgery) and amputation.

Bone Complications and Cancer

Bone health is maintained through active processes that are constantly taking place in the bone tissue. Cancer and its treatment may disrupt this activity and compromise bone health. Bone complications occur when cancer spreads to the bones, causing pain, a weakening of the bones that makes them more susceptible to fracture, and/or a dangerously high level of calcium in the blood.

Screening and Prevention

Screening

Screening tests can be useful in detecting certain types of cancer at an early stage. However, no screening tests can find osteosarcoma early. The best way to make sure that osteosarcoma is treated at the earliest possible stage, when it is most curable, is to ask your doctor as soon as potential signs or symptoms of the disease appear. On average, osteosarcoma symptoms start about 3 months before the cancer is diagnosed.

Prevention

Changes in certain lifestyle factors, such as eating a healthy diet, exercising, and not smoking, can prevent many cancers in adults. But no lifestyle changes are known to prevent osteosarcoma in either children or adults.

Breast Cancer in Men

Statistics Regarding Men and Breast Cancer

Breast cancer in men is rare—less than 1 percent of all breast carcinomas occur in men. Consider the latest statistics available from the American Cancer Society (ACS):

The ACS estimates that in 2009, approximately 1,910 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed among men in the United States. Breast cancer is about 100 times more common among women. The average age at diagnosis is 67, although men of all ages can be affected with the disease.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Breast Cancer

If you've been recently diagnosed with breast cancer, you probably have many thoughts running through your head and you may feel unable to think clearly. Your doctor will understand this. You should feel free to ask questions about any concerns you may have. Be sure to take a pen and pad with you, as you probably won't remember all the answers. If the doctor uses words you don't understand, ask for an explanation.

Introduction

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. It will account for an estimated 26 percent of all cancer diagnosed in women in 2010, according to the American Cancer Society. Over the course of a woman's life, she has a 1 in 8 chance of getting the disease. It is also possible for men to develop breast cancer, although this is rare.

What Is Breast Cancer?

If you've received a diagnosis of cancer in one or both of your breasts, you should know that you are not alone. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women, according to the American Cancer Society, which estimates about 207,090 cases of invasive breast cancer and 39,840 deaths from breast cancer in 2010. Over the course of a woman's life, she has a 1 in 8 chance of getting the disease. Breast cancer in men is rare, with an estimated 1,910 cases diagnosed in 2010.