Bone cancer: Teenagers and young adults

Bone cancer: Teenagers and young adults

• Introduction
• The bones
• Tests for bone cancer
• Treating bone cancer
• Life after treatment for bone cancer

Introduction

This section about bone cancer is for teenagers and young adults. There are different types of bone cancer, and most of this information applies to all types. If you have a rare type of bone cancer and want to know more, you could talk to Macmillan.

If you’re looking for information about bone cancer in people of all ages, read our general bone cancer section.

Types of bone cancer

There are different types of bone cancer. The 2 most common bone cancers to affect teenagers are osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma.

Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcomas are most likely to affect bones in the leg, especially around the knee joint, but they can affect any bone.

Ewing sarcoma

Ewing sarcoma can affect any bone, but it’s most common in the pelvis (which is made up of the tail bone and the 2 hip bones), or in leg bones. Ewing sarcoma can sometimes start outside the bone in the soft tissue. This is called soft tissue Ewing sarcoma, and is treated in the same way. Sarcoma is the name for a cancer that starts in any connective tissue, such as muscle, fat or cartilage.

In this information we sometimes use the term ‘bone tumour’. This means the same as bone cancer.

Causes

The cause of bone cancer is unknown. Because it’s more common in young people, doctors think that it may be linked to the changes that happen when bones are growing. There is lots of ongoing research into the possible causes.

People often think a knock or injury might have caused bone cancer, but there’s no evidence for this.

Remember that nothing you’ve done has caused the cancer.

Signs and symptoms of bone cancer

Bone cancer symptoms vary, and not everyone will feel the same. Many symptoms are similar to everyday aches and pains, so they can be mistaken for other things, like strains, sports injuries or growing pains.

The main symptoms are:

• pain or tenderness – this may start as an ache that doesn’t go away and may be made worse by exercise or feel worse at night
• swelling around the affected area of bone – swelling may not show up until the tumour is quite large and it isn’t always possible to see or feel a lump if the affected bone is deep inside the body
• reduced movement – if the bone tumour is near a joint (like an elbow or knee), it can make it harder to move the joint; if it’s in a leg bone, it may cause a limp; if it’s in the backbone (spine), it may press on nerves and cause tingling and numbness in the legs or arms
• a broken bone – a bone may break suddenly, or after only a minor fall or accident if the bone has been weakened by cancer.

There might also be other symptoms including:

• tiredness 
• a high temperature 
• loss of appetite 
• weight loss

If you have any of these symptoms, or you are worried that you may have a bone tumour, you should get it checked by your GP. They can talk to you about your symptoms, and arrange tests if they feel they’re needed.

Remember – most people with these symptoms won’t have bone cancer.