Cancer that begins in the bone is called primary bone cancer. Primary bone cancer is relatively uncommon in comparison with secondary or metastatic cancer (cancer that occurs initially in another organ and then spreads to bone tissue).

Cancer may also develop in associated bone structures, including the marrow and the connective tissues. Some types of bone cancer may spread to other organs. With modern therapies, the outlook for many patients (especially those with primary bone cancer) has improved significantly.

Symptoms of Bone Cancer:

1.Pain and tenderness in the affected bones. The pain is usually dull and localized and is often worse at night.
Swelling or a noticeable tumor or mass around the site of a primary tumor. (Swelling generally does not occur with metastatic tumors.)
2.Greater susceptibility to bone fractures (as healthy bone cells are replaced by malignant ones).

Causes of Bone Cancer:
1.The cause of primary bone cancer is unknown, but hereditary factors, environmental factors, trauma, or excessive radiation therapy (to treat other types of cancer) may be involved.
2.Metastatic bone cancer most often stems from cancer of the breast, lung, prostate, thyroid, or kidney. Multiple myeloma (a cancer of the bone marrow) may also affect the bones.
3.The incidence of bone cancer is higher in patients with Pagets disease, a degenerative bone disease.

Treatment:

The treatment of cancer of the bone, especially metastatic cancer, has two goals: management of the neoplasm and management of the symptoms produced by the local lesion. Prognosis is affected by a patient's age, the size of the primary tumor, grade and stage, degree of lymphatic and blood vessel invasion, the duration of symptoms and the location of the tumor on the arm, leg or trunk.
There are two ways bone metastasis is treated. Systemic therapy, aimed at cancer cells that have spread throughout the body, includes chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and immunotherapy. Local therapy, aimed at killing cancer cells in one specific part of the body, includes radiation therapy and surgery.