How does osteosarcoma develop

It might be used after surgery to kill any cancer cells that may be left behind. Rehabilitation, including physical and occupational therapy, and psychosocial adapting. Many people, particularly those with higher grade tumors, will receive a combination of treatments. Some types of treatment may later affect fertility. If this side effect is permanent, it might cause infertility.

This means you may not be able to have children. Both men and women can be affected. Talk with your healthcare providers about your treatment options.

Make a list of questions. Think about the benefits and possible side effects of each option. Discuss your concerns with your healthcare provider before making a decision.

Managing a cancer diagnosis can be a life-changing event for both the person and the family. Each person decides how to adapt to the diagnosis. If physically able, some people find it helpful to keep their pre-diagnosis daily routine such as spending time with family and friends, going to work, and taking part in trips and other activities.

Other people find the diagnosis life-changing and decide to rethink how they spend their time. An important factor in your decision will be the long-term outlook, or prognosis, for the osteosarcoma. As with any cancer, prognosis and long-term survival can vary greatly from person to person. Every person is unique and treatment and prognosis is structured around your needs. Prompt medical attention and aggressive therapy are important for the best prognosis.

Continuous follow-up care is vital for a person diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Side effects of radiation and chemotherapy, including second cancers, can happen in survivors. It can start in any bone in the body. But it most often starts in the long bones around the knee. Other common sites are the upper leg, the lower leg, and the upper arm bone. Treatment may include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and physical and occupational therapy.

Bring someone with you to help you ask questions and remember what your provider tells you. At the visit, write down the name of a new diagnosis, and any new medicines, treatments, or tests.

Also write down any new instructions your provider gives you. Know why a new medicine or treatment is prescribed, and how it will help you.

Also know what the side effects are. Know what to expect if you do not take the medicine or have the test or procedure. If you have a follow-up appointment, write down the date, time, and purpose for that visit. Search Encyclopedia. Osteosarcoma What is osteosarcoma? What causes osteosarcoma? Who is at risk for osteosarcoma? Suggested risk factors for osteosarcoma include: Teen growth spurts Being tall for a specific age Having treatment with radiation for another cancer, especially at a young age or with high doses of radiation Presence of certain noncancer benign bone diseases Presence of certain rare, inherited disorders, such as: Li-Fraumeni syndrome.

What are the symptoms of osteosarcoma? Symptoms may be a bit different for each person. Symptoms may include: Pain in the affected bone or joint that gets worse over time Swelling around the affected site Increased pain with activity or lifting Limping Decreased movement of the affected limb The symptoms of osteosarcoma are a lot like the symptoms for other health conditions. How is osteosarcoma diagnosed? In addition to a complete health history and physical examination, diagnostic tests for osteosarcoma may include imaging tests: X-ray.

You may also need: Complete blood count CBC. Other blood tests. Your in-depth coping with cancer guide will be in your inbox shortly. You will also receive emails from Mayo Clinic on the latest about cancer news, research, and care. It's not clear what causes osteosarcoma.

Doctors know this cancer forms when something goes wrong in one of the cells that are responsible for making new bone. Osteosarcoma begins when a healthy bone cell develops changes in its DNA. A cell's DNA contains the instructions that tell a cell what to do.

The changes tell the cell to start making new bone when it isn't needed. The result is a mass tumor of poorly formed bone cells that can invade and destroy healthy body tissue. Cells can break away and spread metastasize throughout the body. Osteosarcoma care at Mayo Clinic.

Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Osteosarcoma Open pop-up dialog box Close. Osteosarcoma Osteosarcoma, the most common type of bone cancer, often starts in the long bones — the legs or the arms — but it can occur in any bone.

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Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. But with the proper diagnosis and treatment, most kids with osteosarcoma recover. Osteosarcoma is most often seen in teenage boys. Teens diagnosed with osteosarcoma tend to be tall for their age, suggesting that rapid bone growth may lead to the disease. Kids who have inherited one of the rare cancer syndromes also are at higher risk for osteosarcoma.

These syndromes include retinoblastoma a malignant tumor that develops in the retina, a part of the eye, usually in children younger than age 2 and Li-Fraumeni syndrome a kind of inherited genetic mutation, or change in a person's genes. Because exposure to radiation is another trigger for DNA mutations, children who have received radiation treatments for an earlier cancer are also at increased risk for osteosarcoma. The most common symptoms of osteosarcoma are pain and swelling in the leg or arm.

It happens most often in the longer bones of the body — such as above or below the knee or in the upper arm near the shoulder. Pain may be worse during exercise or at night, and a lump or swelling may form in the affected area up to several weeks after the pain starts.

Pain that often wakes the child up at night or pain at rest are of particular concern. In osteosarcoma of the leg, a child also may develop an unexplained limp. In some cases, the first sign of the disease is a broken arm or leg, which happens because the cancer has weakened the bone and made it vulnerable to a break.

To diagnose osteosarcoma, a doctor will do a physical exam, take a detailed medical history , and order X-rays to detect any changes in bone structure. The doctor might order a CT scan or magnetic resonance imaging MRI scan of the affected area, which will find the best area to biopsy and show whether osteosarcoma has spread from the bone into nearby muscles and fat.

The biopsy can be done by cutting or scraping a small piece of the tissue or by withdrawing a sample of tissue with a needle and syringe. In a needle biopsy, doctors use a long hollow needle to take a sample of the tumor. Local anesthesia medicine that numbs the area so the person won't feel pain usually is used. Or the doctor may order an open biopsy, in which a portion of the tumor is removed in the operating room by a surgeon while the child is asleep during the procedure under general anesthesia.

If a diagnosis of osteosarcoma is made, the doctor will order CT chest scans as well as a bone scan and, sometimes, more MRI studies. After treatment starts, repeating these tests will help doctors see how well treatment is working and whether the cancer is continuing to spread. Treatment of osteosarcoma in children includes chemotherapy the use of medical drugs to kill cancer cells and shrink the cancer , followed by surgery to remove cancerous cells or tumors , and then more chemo to kill any remaining cancer cells and minimize chances of the cancer coming back.

Surgery often can effectively remove bone cancer, while chemo can help eliminate remaining cancer cells in the body.