Pain Under Breast Bone

The bone cancer that originates from the bone - primary bone cancer - is rare. Less than 2,500 Americans are diagnosed with this cancer each year. The condition affects more children than adults. Bone cancer is a malignant (cancerous) tumor of the bone that destroys normal bone tissue (1). Not all bone tumors are malignant. In fact, benign bone tumors (not cancerous) are more common than malignant. The malignant and benign bone tumors can grow and compress healthy bone tissue, but benign tumors do not spread, do not destroy the bone tissue, and are rarely life threatening.

Most of the time when someone with cancer is said to have bone cancer, the doctor talks to a cancer that spread there from elsewhere. This is called metastatic cancer and can be seen in people with advanced breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer and many others. When these cancers in the bones are examined under a microscope, they resemble the tissues where they come. If someone has lung cancer spread to bone, the cancer cells look and act like lung cancer cells, not bone cancer cells, even after they have spread from the lungs to the bones. They are treated with the same kind of treatment (chemotherapy, for example) that is used for lung cancer.

The malignant tumors that begin in the bone tissue are called primary bone cancer. The cancer metastasis (spreads) on the bone from other parts of the body such as breast, lung or prostate cancer is called metastatic cancer, and is named for the organ or tissue in which it began. Primary bone cancer is much less common than cancer that spreads to the bones.

Bone cancer: primary bone cancer is cancer that forms in the cells of the bone. Some types of primary bone cancer are osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, and chondrosarcoma. Secondary bone cancer is cancer that spreads to bone from another part of the body (such as prostate, breast or lung). The most common types of primary bone tumors are osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma, both of which are most often diagnosed in children and young adults.

The first symptom of bone cancer is usually pain or tenderness near the cancer. Bone pain is caused by stretching of the periosteum (thick membrane covering the bone) by cancer or by stimulating nerves in the bones. Bone pain can be difficult to differentiate from low back pain or arthritis ordinary. Usually the pain due to bone metastasis is fairly constant, even at night. It may be worse in different positions, such as standing, which may compress the cancer in a weight bearing bone. If pain persists for more than a week or two, do not seem to go away, and unlike other pain that may have been experienced, it should be evaluated by a doctor.

Bone cancer is caused by a problem with the cells that make bone. More than 2,000 people are diagnosed in the United States each year with a bone tumor. Bone tumors occur most often in children and adolescents are less frequent in the elderly. Cancer involving the bones in the elderly is most often the result of metastasis from another tumor.

The most common symptom of bone cancer is pain. Other symptoms can vary depending on the location and size of cancer. Surgery is often the main treatment for bone cancer. Other treatments may include amputation, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.