Definition – It is an uncontrolled multiplication of bone cells, which cannot be regulated by the body defence mechanism. These cancer cells are non-functional; feed on normal cell’s oxygen and nutrition. Bone tumors are very rare, accounting for 0.5% of all malignancies.

Causes for Bone tumor – Exact reason for bone cancer is not know. Lot of research are going on in this field. A very small numbers of bone cancers can be secondary to high dose radiation exposure and hereditary.

Types of Bone tumors

Benign bone tumors: are non-cancerous tumors, which lacks the ability to invade the surrounding tissue and doesn’t spread to other parts of the body, however if not treated early they can fracture the bone and compression the surrounding tissues.

Malignant Bone tumors: Are cancerous tumors, which invades surrounds tissue and can spread to other parts of the body. If not treated early they cause threat to life.

Tissue of Origin	Benign	Malignant
Cartilage	Osteochondroma, Chondroblastoma, Chondroma, Chondromyxoid Fibroma	Chondrosarcoma
Osteiod	Osteoblatoma, Osteoid Osteoma,	Osteosarcoma
Fibroblastic	Fibroma, Desmoplastic Fibroma	Fibrosarcoma
Unknow	Gaint Cell Tumor, Aneurysmal bone cyst	Ewings sarcoma, Synovial sarcoma, Adamatinoma, Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma
Hematopoietic		Myeloma, Lymphoma
Notochord		Chordoma
Tumor like conditions	Simple Bone cyst

When should I consult a Musculo-Skeletal Onco-Surgeon?

Symptoms –

Bone Swelling
Persistent bone pain
Fracture following trivial trauma
Know case of cancer ( Breast, Prostate, Lung, Thyroid ...) with bone pains

What are the Investigations required before treatment?

· Plain X ray – Helps in diagnosis and surgical planning

· MRI (Magnetic Resonance imaging) - Helps in diagnosis and surgical Planning

· Biopsy – Trucut biopsy is the most valuable tool to establish the diagnosis. In Biopsy, a small needle is introduced in to the tumor through a 1-2 mm skin incision and tumor sample is sent for microscopic examination. It helps in accurate diagnosis of cancer, subtype and grade of tumor. It is very important to know the above details because treatment of each tumour is different.

Biopsy is done as a day care procedure under local anaesthesia or rarely under general anaesthesia. Usually biopsy procedure takes 10-15 mins.

What is the treatment for bone tumor?

Can Bone cancer patient survive?

Can we save limb in bone cancer?

Few decades back bone tumors were treated with amputation, today with improved imaging techniques, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and trained surgeons, we are able to save limb in more than 90-95% of the patients.

Each bone cancer treatment is different. They require multimodality treatment like surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy

Bone cancer can be completely cured in 60-80% of the patients depending up on the stage and grade of tumor.

Is there any screening test to detect bone cancers?

No screening tests are available for bone and soft tissue cancers. Early diagnosis is critical, any bone swelling, Persistent bone pain, fractures following trivial injury are the indications of bone tumors. Biopsy to diagnose the type of tumor is strongly recommended before any surgical procedure in suspected bone cancer. It has to be done by the trained person and at the cancer centre, where patient is going to receive the complete cancer treatment.