Bone sarcoma: causes of the disease, ways of treatment

Bones are the framework needed to support the shape of the body. The bones of man are firm and durable. Some of them withstand pressure of almost 1.5 tons or more. Outside, the bone is covered by the periosteum (fibrous tissue).

Bone tissue consists of two types of cells:

- osteoblasts - cells responsible for building bones;

- osteoclasts - cells that dissolve old bone tissue.

Bone marrow contains bone marrow or adipose tissue. In others - fat with blood-forming cells, from which erythrocytes, platelets and leukocytes form. The human bone marrow also contains plasma cells, fibroblasts and reticuloendothelial cells.

Sarcoma of bone can be formed from each type of bone tissue cells.

Malignant tumors

Most often, malignant tumors in the bones are a consequence of the spreading to the bone of a tumor from some other organ.

Sarcoma of the bone begins directly in the bone tissue. There are several types of bone formation. Their name depends on the area of the bone or nearby affected tissue, as well as the type of cells that form bone tumors.

Varieties

Sarcoma bone is of several kinds.

One of the most common malignant tumors of the bone is osteosarcoma, which is also called osteogenic sarcoma. The tumor grows from cells that are in the bone tissue. In most cases, these tumors affect the bones of young people and children aged 10-30 years. But in this case, in 10% of cases, elderly persons aged 60 years also fall ill with osteosarcoma. Usually osteosarcoma affects the bones of the extremities, the upper and lower, as well as the pelvic bones.

Chondrosarcoma develops from cartilage cells and usually occurs in adults over 20 years of age.

Ewing's sarcoma is found in children, adolescents and young people. Most often, the tumor affects the bones of the chest, pelvis and extremities.

There are some other types of bone sarcoma, but they are less common.

Sarcoma bones, symptoms

The first symptoms of bone sarcoma are pain in the early stages of the disease. The arising pains are not connected with physical activity or position of the patient's body. The pain can be aching, growing, constant, sometimes deep and strong. More often the pain intensifies at night, which provokes insomnia.

Causes bone sarcoma to impair the function of the affected extremities. This occurs at the next stage of development, when a sarcoma is affected a fairly large area of the bone and destroyed the functional cells. Progression of the tumor causes fragility of bones, they easily break even with a slight fall or injury. Large tumors can be seen, but the skin is not changed in color and temperature.

In some cases, sick with sarcoma, nausea and vomiting, undefined abdominal pain, which is more typical of children.

Elimination of symptoms and treatment of bone sarcoma

As you know, cancer can not be cured 100%, but medicine is developing, and modern methods of treatment with new drugs are emerging. To date, cancer treatment is carried out using the following set of measures:

- medical treatment;

- surgical intervention;

- chemical and radiation therapy.

Drug therapy leads to a decrease in the rate of tumor growth and increases immunity.

When surgical intervention, remove the tumor. New technologies allow you to remove individual fragments of bones, and then replace the removed part with prostheses.

Chemotherapy and radiation are used less often than surgical intervention. They are of an auxiliary nature for the preparation of the patient for the operation and after it.

Modern oncology allows to reveal the sarcoma of the bone at the first stages, which makes it possible to preserve the activity and working capacity of the patient.