What is osteosarcoma?

osteosarcoma is a malignant tumor that grows inside the bones. This is often considered to be cancer in childhood, because 65% of all cases occur in adolescents aged 14 to 16 years. Osteosarcoma is a serious form of cancer, and although treatment has improved, the survival rate is still alarming.

In about 80% of cases, osteosarcomas in and around the knee grow. Tumors are formed by the same tissue as the bone, but they are much weaker. Early detection is rare, although some evidence of connection between certain forms of eye cancer in children, called retinoblastoma, and osteosarcoma, have been determined. If the patient has a retinoblastoma, any symptoms that could indicate osteosarcoma, such as a leg pain that deteriorates at night to detect bone tumors, should soon be tested.

In many cases, however, there is no known reason for osteosarcoma. Symptoms, generally mild, such as leg pain, are quite common in all children. Would be allowed to develop leg pain inLimping, or if the area around the leg seems to be swollen, not as a result of direct injury, a medical council should be sought. Timely detection by X -ray, magnetic resonance (MRI) and scanning computed tomography (CT); Together with the biopsy of all found tumors, it significantly improves the level of survival. Unfortunately, there is no test for patient screening on boarding, as generally symptoms on board are mild.

The sooner the detection of this cancer, the less chance the cancer must metastasize and create tumors in the lungs or other bones. Osteosarcoma, as soon as it is diagnosed, is classified in the stages. Localized osteosarcoma does not spread and affects only the bones and muscles that it affects. Metastatic osteosarcoma has spread to other parts of the body. In more than 75% of osteosarcoma metastatic cases, tumors develop in the lungs.

The numbers can also be assogned into phases. For exampleD osteosarcoma of the first phase is a small, non -metallic tumor. The second phase is a larger tumor that has not yet been metastasized. The third phase means that the tumor has spread to other bone types, and the fourth phase means that cancer has spread to the lungs. Survival in the fourth phase depends on whether tumors in the lungs can be surgically removed.

The treatment of osteosarcoma depends on the stages. If a single phase of one or sarcoma of the other phase is detected, the doctor oncology prescribes chemotherapy as the first step in trying to reduce the existing tumor and hopefully prevent metastases. If the tumor is reduced, the orthopedic surgeon then removes it. In some cases, the only successful means of eliminating the limb amputation.

There are 0.3 cases of osteosarcoma per 100,000 people. Of the affected, one -third die in the first year. The least endangered ones will be sarcomas of the first or second phase. Therefore, anyone who notices symptoms, such as above, should seek the advice of their doctor. BirthCzech should be particularly vigilant of such symptoms in their adolescent children.