Types and Goals of Treatment for Primary Bone Cancer

Most people with primary bone cancer will have more than one treatment. The treatments you have depend on your age, general health, and the stage and type of the bone cancer.

Here are the treatments for primary bone cancer. These are listed from most commonly used to least commonly used.

• Surgery.  Often, the first operation is a biopsy. The doctor uses this to get tissue from the tumor. A pathologist examines the tissue to determine the specific type of tumor. Another surgery removes the tumor and a small amount of surrounding tissue. The surgeon will try not to harm your appearance or affect your limb function.

• Chemotherapy. This treatment uses drugs to kill cancer. Usually, you take the drugs by an intravenous (IV) infusion in your vein. They travel throughout your body in your bloodstream. Your doctor may use chemotherapy to shrink tumors before they are surgically removed. The drugs may also be used on tumors that cannot be surgically removed. Or, you may have chemotherapy to treat cancer that has spread to distant places in your body. You may have chemotherapy before surgery, after surgery, or both.

• Radiation therapy. This treatment kills cancer cells using high energy X-rays. There are several types of radiation therapy. You may have external radiation. This type directs radiation through your skin to the tumor with a machine outside your body. You may have internal radiation. This type involves inserting radioactive substances inside your body, usually through catheters. The catheters are in place for a short period of time. Or, you may receive radiation therapy in the operating room. Once the tumor is removed, the doctor gives radiation to the area where the tumor was. Another type of radiation is proton therapy. This is special because it can target precise areas. Doctors also use radiation to ease the symptoms of bone cancer.

Doctors are always finding new ways to treat bone cancer. They test these new methods in clinical trials. Before starting treatment, ask your doctor if there are any clinical trials that you should consider.