Radiation therapy for bone cancer

The malignant tumor located in the bone is called bone cancer and it will damage the bone tissue. But there are benign and malignant tumors and the noncancerous or the malignant are more common. They will not spread, destroy bone tissue or cause death, like the malignant, but they will compress the healthy bone tissue. Metastatic cancer is the term used for the cancer that can spread to other body organs, like prostate, lungs, breasts and so on. And there are primary bone cancers, which are malignant in nature and benign in the bone tissue. Primary occur less when compared to the bone cancer that expands to the surrounding organs.

Treatment

Stage, location, size and type will determine the treatment option and some of those that are available are cryosurgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and surgery. General health of the patient and age play a role in determining the treatment as well. The tumor and the negative margins of the tumor are removed during the surgery. The certain amount of healthy tissue will also be removed but there are some techniques that can reduce the amount of the removed tissue. Radical surgeries for the bone cancer in leg or arm, for example, are not needed today due to the advance of the medicine. But the function of the limb will have to be increased among those who had a limb-sparing surgery and this can be done with reconstructive surgery. Anticancer drugs are given via chemotherapy.

Combination of anticancer drugs is mostly used for treating bone cancer, but this combination can be used for the maximization of limb functionality. High energy X-rays are emitted during the radiation therapy. These rays kill the cancer cells and this kind of treatment can be used in cases of chondrosarcoma. Also, the combination of the surgery and radiation therapy is used as well. The cancer cells are frozen to death with the use of liquid nitrogen during the cryosurgery.

Radiation Therapy

During this treatment, a machine located outside of the body can be used to emit the gamma rays and X-rays to kill the cancer cells. Also a radioactive material can do the same when placed near the cancer cells. The DNA of the cells is damaged during this process and this is how the cancer cells are killed. This can be done directly or indirectly with the charged particles located in the cells. The cells that cannot cope with the damage will die, break down and be eliminated from the body. Unfortunately, healthy cells will also be destroyed during this process, and this is something the surgeon takes into consideration when planning if this kind of therapy will be employed. This piece of information will help them decide which level of radiation to use.