Health encyclopaedia

Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List

Treatment of Cancer of the bone

The main treatments for bone cancer are chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. You will have a combination of these depending on the type of bone cancer, where it is in your body, and how far it has spread.

Chemotherapy (cancer-killing drugs) is usually the first treatment. The drugs are injected into your veins and are designed to make the main tumour shrink, as well as to treat any cancer cells that may have spread to other parts of the body. Cancer drugs used for primary bone cancer include methotrexate, doxorubicin, and cisplatin. Chemotherapy can also be used after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells.

Surgery is usually necessary to remove the tumour. The surgeon needs to make sure all the affected bone is removed, but will try to leave as much healthy bone as possible. Usually bone cancers are quite aggressive (this means they spread quickly) so occasionally it is necessary to remove (amputate) a limb in order to save the person’s life. Sometimes removing the affected cancerous bone and replacing it with a donated bone graft can save an arm or leg. Artificial replacements (prostheses or implants) can also be used to replace parts of a bone or joint.

Radiotherapy (treatment with X-rays) is sometimes used in addition to chemotherapy and surgery, to kill any remaining cancer cells. In some types of cancer, such as Ewing’s sarcoma or a chordoma that develops in the spine, radiotherapy is used as an alternative to surgery, because it’s not possible to operate. Radiotherapy is not usually used to treat osteosarcomas or chondrosarcomas, because it does not have great effect.

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