A number of factors are considered to decide on the best treatment for bone cancer. Among these are the type, location, size, and extent of the tumor as well as the patient’s age and general health. A treatment plan is tailored to fit each patient’s needs.

Treatment Methods Bone cancer is treated with surgery, radiation therapy, and/or chemotherapy. The doctor often uses a combination of treatment methods, depending on the patient’s needs. Patients may be referred to doctors who specialize in different kinds of cancer treatment. Often, the specialists work together as a team. The team may include a surgeon, a pediatric oncologist, and a radiation oncologist.Surgery is part of the treatment for most bone cancers. Because the disease may recur near the original site, the surgeon removes the tumor and some healthy bone and other tissue around the tumor.When bone cancer occurs in an arm or leg, the surgeon tries, whenever possible, to remove just the tumor and an area of healthy tissue around it. Sometimes, the surgeon can use a metal device to replace the bone that is removed. In some children, the surgeon may replace the bone with a metal device that can be lengthened as the child grows. This limb-sparing procedure will require additional operations to keep expanding the artificial bone.Sometimes, however, when the tumor is large, amputation may be necessary. If the limb is removed, a prosthesis (artificial part) can be made. The artificial part takes the place of a leg, arm, hand, or foot.Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Often, a combination of three or more drugs is used. Chemotherapy can be given by mouth or by injection into a muscle or blood vessel. The drugs travel through the body in the bloodstream. Chemotherapy is given in cycles: a treatment period followed by a recovery period, then another treatment and recovery period, and so on.Some patients have chemotherapy as an outpatient at the hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office or at home. Depending on which drugs are given, however, the patient may need to stay in the hospital for a short while.Chemotherapy is almost always used in combination with surgery for cancers of the bone. Sometimes, chemotherapy is used to shrink a tumor before surgery. It is also used as an adjuvant therapy after surgery to kill cancer cells that may remain in the body and to prevent the disease from recurring. In some cases, a patient may have chemotherapy both before and after surgery. For some bone cancer, chemotherapy is combined with radiation therapy. Chemotherapy can also be used to control bone cancer that has spread.Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) uses high-energy rays to damage cancer cells and stop them from growing. In some cases, radiation therapy is used instead of surgery to destroy the tumor. This form of treatment can also be used to destroy cancer cells that remain in the area after surgery.The patient goes to the hospital or clinic each day for radiation treatments. Usually, treatments are given 5 days a week for 5 to 8 weeks.

Hormone therapy is either the removal of the organs which produce hormones which can promote the growth of certain types of cancer (such as testosterone in males and estrogen in females), or drug therapy to keep the hormones from promoting cancer growth.

Biphosphonates are drugs that can be used to reduce bone pain and slow down bone damage in people who have cancer that has spread to their bones.

Vertebroplasty?

Vertebroplasty is an image-guided, minimally invasive, no surgical therapy used to strengthen a broken vertebra (spinal bone) that has been weakened by osteoporosis or, less commonly, cancer. Vertebroplasty can increase the patient’s functional abilities, allow a return to the previous level of activity, and prevent further vertebral collapse. It is usually successful at alleviating the pain caused by a compression fracture. Often performed on an outpatient basis, Vertebroplasty is accomplished by injecting an orthopedic cement mixture through a needle into the fractured bone.

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