What is Bone Cancer?

Cancer that starts in the bone (primary bone cancer) is relatively rare, with about 2,500 cases diagnosed in the United States each year.

The most common types of bone cancer occur more frequently in children and young adults, while other bone cancer is primarily found in adults over 50.

Each case of bone cancer is serious, but tremendous advances have been made in chemotherapy, radiation therapy and reconstructive surgery, greatly increasing the long-term survival rate.

The most common type of bone cancer is osteosarcoma, which develops in new tissue in growing bones. Another type, Ewing’s Family of Tumors, begins in immature nerve tissue in bone marrow. Both of these occur more frequently in children and adolescents than in adults.

Surgery is often the primary treatment for bone cancer, although recent advances in chemotherapy, radiation therapy and the replacement of cancerous bone with an artificial device (prosthesis) have increased the rate of survival without amputation.