Cancer can occur inside the skeleton and that means that a malignant tumor can appear in bones and joints. If a cancer first appears in a bone, this kind of tumor is a primary bone cancer. A tumor found in other body parts which was recognized as primary cancer can spread to the body bones. In this case it is called secondary bone cancer. Most cases of bone cancer happen inside of the arms and legs bones.
The symptoms are easy to be discovered. First of all it is pain during moving and then swelling. But you should also remember that pain and swelling of the joints and bones is not always a symptom of a developing tumor. This can indicate other bone disorders different from cancer.
Bone cancer in early stages might not cause constant pain. At first actually can feel pain at night time while having a rest or after a long period of some physical activity. It takes certain time before a tumor grows and when it has grown to a particular size then pain becomes regular and even constant. That means you can feel no pain for weeks, months and sometimes even years with not an inkling that the pain is caused by the developing bone cancer. When a tumor inside the skeletal system has reached a particular size, some other symptoms appear. They are weight loss and lack of energy.
Bone cancer weakens your body in general and specificly. Bone breaking can occur even after a slight fall. The tumor makes the bone weak in such a way a break is more possible to occur. Bone fractures mostly happen in the lower body part rather than in the upper one.
Among other bone cancer signs we can mention nausea, vomiting, general distress, as well as abdomen pain. These symptoms happen because salt calcium from the tumor goes out of the bone and spreads in the blood. The symptoms strengthen and widespread once another tumor becomes to grow. Fever, chills, night sweats are the symptoms that happen mostly when the bone cancer has reached other body parts.
Statistically a human body has about 200 bones. There are around 100 forms of cancer. Bone cancer is not so widely spread as other cancer types. Generally bone cancer occurs more often in teenagers and сhildren than in older people.
Different forms of bone cancer are known. There are different ways of diagnosing and treating bone cancer. What is important is that if you feel pain in joints and bones you should check with the doсtor. Remember that aches do not always indicate the cancer presence.