Hope for Bone Cancer Patients From Diagnosis to Remission: Get Bone Cancer Treatment in India from MediGoCare

Bone cancer happens when unusual cells in the bones start growing and becomes unstoppable or the growth gets out of control. This actually destroys the normal bone tissues and it might start in the bones or even might spread in the bones from any other part of the body, which is known as metastasis.

Bone cancer is very rare. Mostly, bone tumors don’t turn into cancer and do not spread to any other area in the body as well. But the tumors still can weaken the bones and can result in broken bones or may cause other bone disorders as well.

Types of Bone Cancer

Depending on the origin, this type of cancer can be divided into two types – the primary bone cancer and the secondary bone cancer.

Primary bone cancer

Primary bone cancer is the one that arises directly from the bone itself. This type of bone cancer can be further divided into many types.

• Osteosarcoma : – Osteogenic sarcoma or osteosarcoma is one of the primary bone cancers that originate right from the limbs’ and pelvic region’s bone cells. It is mosly found in men and those aged between 10 to 30 years.
• Chondrosarcoma : – It is the second name in the list of the most common types of primary bone cancer. Chondrosarcoma forms mainly in the cartilage cells. The risks of developing or increasing this bone cancer increases with age.
• Ewing’s Sarcoma : – It is the 3rd most commonly found bone cancer. This type of cancer generally starts from the bones but might also occur in the muscles & other tissues. And it’s generally seen in teenagers and children and is very rare in adults.
• Fibrosarcoma : – This type of bone cancer occurs in the soft tissues lining the bones, like tendons & ligaments, fat or muscles. The risks of developing this type of primary bone cancer increases with age..and among the adults especially the older adults, this type of cancer usually affect the arms, jaws, or legs.
• Giant cell tumor of bone : – This can present itself in the malignant or benign form. Mostly, it happens in the limbs of middle-aged or young adults and very rarely spreads to the other body parts. Well, this kind of tumor show a greater tendency of relapsing and also increases the risks of the spread of cancer to the other organs with each recurrence.
• Chordoma : – It is another one in the checklist of the types of primary bone cancer which mostly occurs in the base of the skull and the spine. This type of cancer is quite common in men aged thirty and above. This is one of the slow-growing bine cancers that rarely spreads to the distant organs. But the tumor needs to be completely removed or else the patient may have the risk of relapsing.

Secondary bone cancer: –

Secondary bone cancers start in various organs in the body and then spread to the bones later on. This type of cancer is more common as compared to primary bone cancer.

Symptoms of Bone Cancer

The most common sign or symptom of bone cancer is pain in the bone and this pain keeps on increasing with the progress of the disease and lesions are developed in the bones. Some other symptoms of this type of cancer are: –

• Swelling in the bones that are affected
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Anemia
• Bone fractures
• Palpable hard mass formed in the bones
• Unintentional loss of weight

In several cases, the patients also may not experience any of these symptoms, which makes the prognosis even more tough. Few tumors can also weaken the structure of the bones, leading to pathological fracture.

Causes of Bone Cancer

Although there are as such no fixed cause for this type of cancer, there are some risk factors that are associated with bone cancer.

• Age : – Bone cancer is much more common among individuals aged below twenty. However, the risk of acquiring chondrosarcoma increases with the increase in age.
• Family history : – If there’s a family history of having bone cancer then there’s a high risk of acquiring it.
• History of radiation : – The ones who have gone through radiation therapy sometime in the past are more prone to developing bone cancer.
• Umbilical hernia at the time of birth : – Those babies who are born with an umbilical hernia are more prone to developing this type of cancer.
• Paget’s disease : – Those who are going through Paget’s disease are at higher risks of developing bone cancer.
• Li-Fraumeni Syndrome : – Some rare genetic syndromes like Li-Fraumeni Syndrome are associated with bone cancer.

Diagnosis Bone Marrow Cancer

There are different ways of detecting and diagnosing bone cancer.

If one is suspected to acquire a bone tumor then the doctor will begin with checking the complete medical history in order to find out if there are any other symptoms of bone cancer. Also, the doctor might examine the patient’s suspected area physically for any abnormal mass or any other sign of bone tumor.

If the physical tests indicates bone tumor then the doctor may suggest additional tests like: –

• Bone scan  : – During the bone scan, basically a radioactive compound is injected right into the patient’s vein and he or she is asked to wait for a few minutes or an hour or so. That radioactive compound is accumulated in the areas of bone damage and the areas of high blood flow. Also, the doctor will use a special camera to scan the bones and the nearby areas and also the areas that have excessive amounts of those radioactive compounds that appear as dark patches or spots. This process helps to diagnose different bone disorders like bone cancer.
• Imaging tests : – Imaging procedures like PET/CT, X-RAY, MRI, etc., are used for obtaining information about this type of cancer. These imaging tests help to perform a biopsy, plan treatment, monitor the treatment that’s administered, stage the disease, and check if the cancer has spread to any other organs.
• Bone biopsy : – For obtaining a confirmed diagnosis, the sample of a bone tissue is basically collected and then tested under the microscope to know if there are any cancer cells. And this is one of the most reliable ways of diagnosing bone cancer.

Stages of Bone Marrow Cancer

Stage 1A 

In this stage, the tumor is nearly 8cm or even smaller and of low grade.

Stage1B    

In this stage, the tumor is more than 8 cm and one may even find more than one tumor in different parts of one single bone. These are known as discontinuous tumors. It is also low grade.

Stage 2A  

The tumor in this stage is smaller than or 8 cm and is of high grade.

Stage 2B   

The tumor is more than 8 cm in size and is of high grade.

Stage 3   

In stage 3 of bone cancer, there are multiple tumors in different areas of the same bone and are if high grade.

Stage 4  

The cancer has already spread to different parts of the body apart from the bone like in the brain, lungs, the other bones, and the lymph nodes. This is known as metastasis bone cancer. This can be of either high grade or low grade.

Bone Cancer Treatment

The treatment for bone cancer is suggested based on some key factors like the type of tumor, size of the tumor, location of it, patient’s age, stage of the tumor, and the overall health condition of the patient.

Radiation therapy, surgery, and chemotherapy, these are the most suggested treatments for bone cancer.

Surgery  : –

Surgery ensures complete removal of the tumor as well as a very small portion of some of the healthy tissues around the tumor. The main objective of surgery is to get remission.

In the beginning, bone cancer’s surgical management involved amputation. But now, all bone cancer cases do not need amputation. Surgeons mainly focus on the preservation surgeries nowadays, which basically focus on the preservation of both the functioning and structure of the cancer-affected organ. Limb sparing or limb salvage surgery is the surgical approach that is done without amputation. And during this process, the lost bone is replaced with another bone from a other parts of the body or is replaced with an artificial bone.

Radiation therapy  : –

This treatment option involves the destruction of cancer cells with the use of high-dose radiation beams. Radiation therapy is basically combined with other treatments like

chemotherapy and surgery to improve the overall efficacy of this treatment. Here are the key objectives of radiation therapy.

• To relieve symptoms like pain
• For suppressing the tumor
• To shrink the tumor prior to surgery and this is known as the neoadjuvant therapy
• For destroying the cancer cells that are left behind even after surgery and this is termed as the adjuvant therapy.

Chemotherapy: –

This treat option makes use of potent medicines or drugs for destroying the cancer cells by preventing further growth or multiplication of the cells. Here are the main objectives of chemotherapy.

• For removing cancer completely
• To prevent cancer from further relapsing
• For delaying the progress of the disease later on in the advanced stages
• To relieve the symptoms such as pain among those suffering from advanced bone cancer

Accurate diagnosis and early detection are essential to beat bone cancer with positive clinical results. Hence, it is vital for every patient to take every symptom seriously and to not ignore any of the symptoms as well.

What is Bone cancer treatment cost in India ?

The average cost of bone cancer treatment in India may vary depending on the sage of the cancer and the treatment required for it. On average, the cost varies somewhere around

6000-7200 dollars. The bone marrow cancer treatment cost in India also varies somewhere around this and depends on the extent to which it has spread, the treatment option, and the stage of the cancer.