BONE CANCER AWARENESS

Primary bone cancer, i.e. a cancer which originates in the bone, is a relatively rare cancer, but is the 7th top cancer which affects children and young people.. Unfortunately, unlike most other cancers and despite ongoing clinical trials for treatment of this cancer, primary bone cancer survival rates have not improved in the past 25 years.

Around 550 people in the UK will be diagnosed each year with a primary bone cancer.

Osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma are the types of bone cancer that mainly affect children, teenagers and young people. Alexander had osteosarcoma which originated in his knee.

 The peak age for primary bone cancer is 15-19 years old. In the vast majority of cases, the causes of primary bone cancer are unknown.

Most common symptoms:

Bone Pain;

may be intermittent at first, then become more persistent, especially at night.

If any of the symptoms above persist, it could be precautionary to go back to the doctors and ask about the possibility of a referral for x-ray.

 The principal treatments for primary bone cancers are chemotherapy and surgery.

Swelling; this can be seen if a tumour is one a bone near the surface of the body, but in other places, like the pelvis, it may not be visible​

Reduced movement of a joint, or a limp.

As already mentioned, there has been no significant improvement in survival rates of patients with primary bone cancer since chemotherapy became part of treatment in the early 1980's. This is why there is a need to help fund research into the development of more novel and targeted therapies.

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