Bone Cancer
Detailed
Guide: Bone Cancer
What Are the Risk Factors for Bone Cancer?
A
risk factor is anything that increases your chance of getting
a disease such as cancer. Different cancers have different
risk factors. For example, exposing skin to strong sunlight
is a risk factor for skin cancer. Smoking is a risk factor
for cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx, bladder, kidney,
and several other organs. But having a risk factor, or even
several, does not mean that you will get the disease. Most
people with bone cancers do not have any apparent risk factors.
Inherited
genes: A very small number of bone cancers (especially osteosarcomas)
appear to be hereditary. Children with certain rare inherited
cancer syndromes have an increased risk of developing osteosarcoma.
The Li-Fraumeni syndrome makes people much more likely to
develop several types of cancer, including breast cancer,
brain cancer, osteosarcoma, and other types of sarcoma.
Most of those cases are caused by a mutation of the p53
tumor suppressor gene. Another syndrome that includes bone
cancer is the Rothmund-Thompson syndrome. Children with
this syndrome are short, have skeletal problems, and rashes.
They also are more likely to develop osteosarcoma.
Retinoblastoma
is a rare eye cancer of children. Between 6% and 10% of
cases are due to an inherited tendency to develop this cancer.
Children with this inherited form of retinoblastoma also
have an increased risk for developing osteosarcoma. This
is because of an abnormal mutation of the retinoblastoma
gene that predisposes them to developing cancer. Also, radiation
therapy for treating children with retinoblastoma increases
their risk for osteosarcoma in the bones of the skull.
Finally,
there are families with several members that have developed
osteosarcoma without inherited changes in any of the known
genes. The gene defects that may cause cancers in these
families haven?t been discovered yet.
Paget
disease: Paget disease is a benign (non-cancerous) but precancerous
condition that affects one or more bones. It results in
formation of abnormal bone tissue and is mostly a disease
of people older than 50. Affected bones are heavy and thick,
yet weaker than normal bones and more likely to fracture
(break). Usually this condition is not life threatening.
Bone sarcomas (usually osteosarcoma) develop in about 5%
to 10% of severe cases of Paget disease, usually when many
bones are affected.
Multiple
exostoses: This is an inherited condition sometimes called
multiple osteochondromas that causes many bumps on a person's
bones. These can be painful and cause bones to deform and/or
fracture. Although they feel hard, multiple exostoses are
made mostly of cartilage. Patients with multiple osteochondromas
have an increased risk (about 1% to 2%) for chondrosarcomas.
Radiation:
Bone exposure to radiation may also increase the risk of
developing bone cancer. A typical x-ray of a bone is not
dangerous, but exposure to large doses of radiation (for
example, radiation therapy to treat another cancer), even
though necessary to treat the original cancer, does pose
a risk. Being treated at a younger age and/or being treated
with higher doses of radiation (usually over 60 Gy) increases
the risk of developing bone cancer. Exposure to radioactive
materials such as radium and strontium may cause bone cancer
because these minerals build up in bones. Nonionizing radiation,
such as microwaves, electromagnetic fields from power lines,
cellular phones, and household appliances, does not increase
bone cancer risk.
Bone
marrow transplantation: Osteosarcoma has been reported in
a few patients who have undergone bone marrow (stem cell)
transplantation.
Injuries:
People have wondered whether injury to a bone can cause
cancer, but this has never been proven. Many people with
bone cancer remember having hurt that part of their bone.
Most doctors believe that this did not cause the cancer,
but that the cancer caused them to remember the incident,
or that the injury drew their attention to that bone and
caused them to notice a mass that had already been present
for some time.
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The information on this page has been extracted from
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/
content/CRI_2_4_2X_What_are_the_risk_factors_
for_bone_cancer_2.asp?sitearea=.
