Bone cancer rare but dangerous, says physician

Dr Okezie Emenike, an Abuja-based physician, has described bone cancer as rare illness but a killer.

Emenike expressed the view in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.

He said bone cancer could affect both children and adults and often originated from the bone or spread to the bone from other parts of the body.

According to him, this type of cancer is most common in younger people.

Osteosarcoma (cancer) is most common in teenagers and young adults and is linked to growth of the bones during puberty,’’ Emenike said.

He noted that the cause of bone cancer was not known but that some factors, such as genetics, age and ethnicity increased the risk of developing the disease.

He also identified radiotherapy treatments of other cancers, such as anal, rectal and cervical cancer, as factors that could cause bone cancer.

Some types of bone disease can increase the risk of bone cancer. If you have had paget (disease of the bone) you have a slightly increased risk of getting osteosarcoma.

If you have a type of benign (non-cancerous) bone tumour, called chondroma or osteochondroma, you have an increased risk of getting a type of bone cancer called chondrosarcoma.

Another rare genetic condition called hereditary multiple exostoses can increase the risk of developing a bone cancer later in life.

People with a mother diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 45 are five times at risk of developing bone cancer compared to the general population.

Some people who have relatives with particular types of cancer have an increased risk of certain types of bone cancer which include people whose parents had rectal or liver cancer.

There is a type of eye cancer also caused by faulty genes. It is called hereditary retinoblastoma. Children with this gene fault also have an increased risk of bone cancer.

Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disease in which non-cancerous (benign) tumours form in the nerves under the skin and in other parts of the body, this increases the risk of getting a bone sarcoma.

A study has also shown that the risk of bone cancer is higher in children and adolescents with Down syndrome as well as children with hernia.

If you are born heavier than average for your sex, you have a higher risk of ostesarcoma later in life than people with an average birth weight.

A condition called Li-Fraumeni syndrome runs in families, it is caused by a gene fault inherited from parents and also increases risk of several cancers, including bone cancer,’’ he said .

Emenike added that treatment of bone cancer started with knowing the exact type of bone cancer, the spread and the patient’s health condition.

He also suggested surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy for treating bone cancer.

The physician also recommended some medications and amputation to help treat bone cancer.