Bone Cancer Imagine a world filled with pain. Standing up is hard, lifting a spoon hurts, and walking has to be done with a cane. This is the everyday life of someone who has bone cancer. To them, lifting a plate can be as hard as lifting two hundred pounds is to a normal person. Bone cancer is a deadly tumor in the bone, cartilage, muscle, fibrous tissue, nerve tissue, or fatty tissue (Silverstein 30). The National Cancer Institute of the United States estimated that by the end of 2016, nearly 3,300 new cases of bone cancer will have been discovered, and approximately 1,490 deaths will have occurred (medicalnewstoday.com). Although these numbers aren’t very big compared to breast and lung cancer, bone cancer is still a disease that …show more content…
One of these is a benign tumor. These tumors usually occur in people thirty years old or younger, and are relatively harmless. Benign tumors can develop from trauma, infections, or abnormal tissue growth. However, these can be mistaken for primary and secondary bone cancer. Primary bone cancer starts on the bone and spreads to other parts of the body, while secondary bone cancer starts elsewhere in the body, then spreads to the bone. Many primary bone cancers can only be found on specific bones (Ewing’s sarcoma is located in the shin or thigh bone, teratomas is in the tailbone). One specific primary bone cancer is osteosarcomas. Osteosarcomas is the most common type of bone cancer. This cancer develops mostly in kids and young adults, and can develop on most bones in the body …show more content…
A diagnosis shows the patient’s disease or type of cancer. There are several ways to diagnose a patient. First, a doctor will most likely do a blood test to rule out any other options. Doctors will also do a bone scan (A liquid that collects on abnormal bone tissue areas, an MRI, or x-rays. The most reliable technique is a bone biopsy, which occurs when a bone sample is taken and studied for abnormal growth. If a doctor wants to know how the cancer has spread, they can take a CT scan, which tells if the cancer has spread to any other areas in the bones or body. After a doctor makes a diagnosis, they must make a prognosis. A prognosis describes the patient’s outcome, or chance of survival. It recommends the best treatment options for the patient as well. A prognosis is dependent on the patient’s overall health, and is based on other people that have had the same cancer, with the same stage and similar treatment. While knowing a prognosis is good, not all patients choose to know about it. One of the most important things in a bone cancer prognosis is the stage of the cancer. There are four stages, with stage one being the tamest and stage four being the worst case scenario. In stage one, the cancer is in a limited area of the bone, and is not aggressive (doesn’t show signs of new tumors growing, and current tumors aren’t growing or spreading). If a patient has stage two cancer, the cancer
Sarcoma is a cancer that arises from mesenchyme-originated cells (i.e., bone or muscle) and can be either bone or soft tissue. Carcinoma is a cancer that arises from epithelial cells ("What is a soft tissue sarcoma?").
Osteosarcoma is a malignant cancer of the bone. This tends to be in the extremities of the human body. It tends to occur in the shin, thigh, and upper arm, usually large bones with very fast growth rates. But it can occur in any bone. This type of cancer is most common in teenagers and people over 60. ("Osteosarcoma") In teens with cancer, about 5% is osteosarcoma. ("Osteosarcoma" Teens Living with Cancer.) It is more common in males than females. (“Disease Information”) In males it usually affects people between the ages of 15-19. And in girls, it is usually ages 10-14. Most teens effected are taller compared to the average. ("Osteosarcoma" Teens Living with Cancer.) Growth spurts can onset this cancer so it is very rare in children less than 5 years of age. (“Disease Information”) It usually is never expressed in children before puberty. ("Osteosarcoma" Teens Living with Cancer.) There are more incidences of this in black children than in white children. (“Disease Information”) This could be as a result of the genetic factors. This ...
Radiological studies including CT and MRI play an integral role in establishing the extent of local invasion, whether lymph nodes are involved and to help stage the disease by detecting metastases. Lungs, liver and bone are the most common sites for metastatic spread.
Despite ongoing research, the cause of osteosarcoma is still unknown. Occurring in 2 persons per million per year (Michael et al., 2006) osteosarcoma is the most common primary tumor of the bone, but yet its incidence amongst malignant tumors is rare. However there are numerous factors that have been shown to effect prevalence. Osteosarcoma occurs predominantly in males, although the tumor does have a tendency to develop earlier in females (American Cancer Society, 2014). The risk of osteosarcoma is highest for people who are aged between 10 and 30. Most common however is during the teenage growth spurt, due to the rapid bone growth and higher chance of a mutation occurring in DNA replication. Height can also be a risk factor. Children with osteosarcoma are generally tall for their age, which again indicates a link to rapid bone growth. Osteosarcoma also appears to have a slightly higher prevalence in African Americans than other races. There is also evidence of genetic predisposition being a risk...
Osteoporosis is a disease of the bone. The bones become weak and brittle and are prone to fractures. A person with osteoporosis can fracture a bone just by hitting a table or turning while in bed. Most people with osteoporosis keep on getting fractures because the weight of the body cannot be supported by the bone and normal body movements, including walking, will strain the bone. This condition arises when the rate of bone growth cannot keep pace with bone loss. Osteoporosis can affect any bone including the hip, wrist or spine.
Osteoporosis is a silent, complex, multifactorial, chronic disease characterized by the progressive loss of bone density, which leads to the risk of imminent fractures (1). Osteoporosis "Osteo" is Latin for bone. "Pores" means "full of pores or holes." Thus, osteoporosis means "bones that are full of holes"(1). The bone mass reflects the balance between formation by osteoblasts and resorption by osteoclasts. Around the third decade of life the peak bone mass is reached, and then begins a slow process more continuous bone loss progresses with age(1). Osteoporosis is a metabolic bone disease characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD), the deterioration of the microarchitecture of cancellous or trabecular bone, and changes in the physical
Osteoporosis is a bone disease of that causes a decrease in bone mass. In osteoporosis the bones become weak and fragile. Since the bone mass is decreased, the bones have more of chance of fractures. The bone is continuously breaking down by cells which is known as osteoclasts and rebuilding by other cells known as osteoblasts. Osteoporosis happens once the reabsorption causes the bones to reach a fracture threshold. Any fall or lifting action that would not ordinarily bruise or strain the common person would break one or additional bones in somebody with severe osteoporosis. “Women of fair, freckled complexion with blonde or reddish hair, and women from northwest European background have a higher incidence of osteoporosis than the general population” (Rosdahl, 2012, p.1248). Osteoporosis most commonly happens in postmenopausal women. Some risk factors include age, menstrual status, smoking, sedentary lifestyle caffeine use, and alcohol consumption.
Cancer staging “…describes the severity of a person’s cancer based on the size and/or extent (reach) of the original (primary) tumor and whether or not cancer has spread in the body.” Staging allows doctors and other medical professionals to accurately understand how far along the patient is in the illness and what treatment, medication, and c...
Osteoporosis is a disease that is continuing to increase in numbers; as a result, the cost of care for individuals with the disease is also increasing. In 2005, seventeen billion dollars were spent to care for osteoporosis injuries. It is projected by 2050 that individuals over sixty-five years of age will increase from thirty-two million to sixty-nine million in the United States (AACE, 2010). Therefore more individuals will develop osteoporosis with age. From 2005 to 2025, with increasing age, estimated costs are expected to rise from seventeen billion dollars to twenty-five billion dollars (AACE, 2010). With outstanding projected figures, efforts to reverse the economical stance are focused on screenings, prevention, diagnosing, and treatment.
Each stage is characterized by an A, B, or C letter, depending on the degree to which the symptoms present themselves. The differences in each stage are as follows: stage 1 is when the cancer is either found in one ovary or both, stage 2 the tumor is found in one or both ovaries and extends to other pelvic structures, stage 3 the cancer has spread beyond the pelvis to the lining of the abdomen or to the lymph nodes and finally in stage 4 the cancer has spread to other organs in the body including the liver or lungs (Ovarian Cancer National Alliance). Cancer is “staged” by taking a sample of the infected tissue surgically and sending it to a lab for examination. Staging is crucial in order for medical professionals to determine which course of treatment would be the most effective for the given patient. If misdiagnosed, an entire area affected by this disease could potentially be missed and left untreated.
Bone diseases most directly influence the ability to walk or to move any part of the body--hands, limbs, neck, and spine. They are related to joint disorders--ARTHRITIS, COLLAGEN DISEASE, DISLOCATION of joints, and RHEUMATISM. The medical specialty pertaining to bone disorders is ORTHOPEDICS. Fractures are the most common bone disorders. They can occur as the result of an accident or be secondary to metabolic diseases.
According to Essentials of Human Disease and Conditions textbook, “The most important prognostic factors are age at diagnosis, size of the primary tumor, and the presence of tissue invasion or metastases. (American Cancer Society, 2012)
By definition, "osteoporosis, or porous bone, is a disease characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to bone fragility and an increased risk of fractures of the hip, spine, and wrist" (National Institute of Health- Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases, 2012). Both Berarducci (2008) and Hansberger’s (2005) article note that osteoporosis is the most common disease of all bone disorders, affecting both men and women. The incidence of the disease is growing in the United States with almost 44 million affected Americans and an estimate incidence rate of 10 to 14 million by 2020. Deemed a "silent" epidemic, there is a low level of diagnosis, and even lower level of treatment. Walker (2010) supports Hansberger (2005) that the disease causes pain, depression, anxiety, loss of mobility, and ultimately fractures. It is crucial that Advanced Practice Nurses/Nurse Practitioners have a solid understanding of the disease and are able to identify risk factors, order the proper diagnostic testing, and treat their patients.
Homeostasis is a system that is needed to regulate the internal parts of the body such as temperature or bone homeostasis. The process of homeostasis is important to ensure the internal body is kept stable and to keep the conditions within the body the same as this allows the body to function properly.
It is highly important to seek medical attention if bone pain exists for more than 3 days in adults and children. It is highly unlikely for growing pains in children to last longer than 3 days or pain persisting at night. Likewise, for adults, majority of bone pain is due to arthritis. If the cancer spreads to other organs like lungs and spinal cord, there may be troubled breathing or spinal cord compression, which is a medical emergency. So seek prompt medical attention before it is