Bone Cancer Symptoms
Bone cancer - general facts
There are 2 main types of bone cancer : primary bone cancer ie cancer that starts off in the bone, or metastatic bone cancer, which is cancer that has spread to the bone from elsewhere in the body eg from the lungs. Primary bone cancer can be benign or malignant. Benign bone cancer does not usually spread to other parts of the body and is not life threatening, they include osteomas, osteochondromas, hemagiomas. The most common form of malignant bone cancer is osteosarcoma. It has the highest incidence in young people aged between 10-30 years old. It occurs most often in the bones of the arms, legs and pelvis.
Bone cancer symptoms
- pain in the area of the bone that is affected by the cancer. Initially it could just be intermittent pain which could be worse at night or when using the bone for movement. As the cancer progresses, the pain may progress to being constant.
- swelling in the bone affected by cancer. The swelling may not be apparent (palpable) until later on in the disease and once again, it depends on the location of the cancer.
- breaks/fractures - this is uncommon although it may happen as the bone weakens with the cancerous growth.
- weight loss
- fatigue
- other signs like breathing difficulties may occur when the bone cancer spreads to the rest of the body like the lungs.
Not all the above symptoms are a definitive bone cancer signal. For example, pain in the bone or swelling may be a case of arthritis and not bone cancer. However, it is better to be safe than sorry. If you notice the above symptoms and they don't improve with time, please visit your doctor as bone cancer is one disease which is better detected early than late.
Return to medical symptoms page
Bone cancer symptoms