Osteosarcoma in childhood and adolescence

This name is known to the tumor disease that destroys the cells of the bone tissue and weakens it. It originates in the most immature bone cells that are those that generate new bone (osteoblasts), so they tend to affect children who are experiencing the stretch of adolescence.

According to Kids Health, a reporter for the American Nemours Foundation, osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer, and accounts for approximately 3% of childhood cancers.

It is one of the few cancers that begin to develop in the bones and sometimes extends to other parts of the body, such as the lungs and other bones.

It can appear in any bone of the human body, but it is much more frequent in the bony parts near the knee joint, such as the distal end of the femur and the proximal tibia. And also near the shoulder joint.

Some of the most common symptoms are limping inexplicably when walking, since the tumor can hinder the movement of the nearest joint, such as the knee.

A lump or swelling appears in the affected area until several weeks after the pain begins, as the tumor, growing, invades the tissues surrounding the bone and weakens it.

If you suffer minor trauma. In some cases, the first sign of the disease is a broken arm or leg, which occurs because the cancer has weakened the bone and made it more vulnerable to breakage.

TREATMENT FOR THE OSEUM TUMOR

According to the American Foundation, there is no effective way to prevent this type of cancer, although with proper diagnosis and treatment, between 60 and 80 percent of children with osteosarcoma recover.

The way to attack this bone tumor includes intravenous chemotherapy, which enters the bloodstream to destroy cancer cells and reduce cancer. Then, surgery is performed, in order to remove the tumor or tumors and more chemotherapy to end the malignant cells that have been able to resist or minimize the chances of reoccurrence.

A child with osteosarcoma in an arm or leg usually has a better prognosis, since it is usually treated with salvage surgery instead of amputation. It involves removing the affected bone and muscle. The remaining hole is usually filled with a special metal prosthesis or, sometimes, with a bone graft (which usually comes from a bone bank).

When the disease already affects the ribs, the shoulder blades, the spine or the bones of the pelvis, it is more difficult to treat.

The Nemours Foundation also notes that "the role of certain growth factors in the development of osteosarcoma is being investigated. These studies may allow the development of new drugs that slow down these growth factors as a cancer treatment."

Without a doubt, a door to hope for those children and adolescents who may be affected by this bone tumor.