Only rare cancers originate in bones, but that shouldn’t stop someone from getting checked if painful symptoms in their arms, legs or other body parts persist for several weeks. 

Dr. James Norris, an orthopaedic oncologist with Medical Group of the Carolinas, is highlighting bone cancer education during Bone Cancer Awareness Month and sharing the advantages to a team approach when navigating someone’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. 

A patient’s bone cancer diagnosis and treatment are always done within a community of medical professionals including orthopaedic oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and pathologists. 

“You can’t treat cancer patients without having a whole team of people behind you that you work with and get ideas from,” Dr. Norris said. “That’s invaluable to me.” 

Cancerous tumors that start in the bone and/or bone tissue, such as osteosarcomas and Ewing’s sarcomas, are incredibly rare. These cancers account for less than 1% of all cancers in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. 

The survival rate is 68.9% for bone sarcomas, according to the American Association for Cancer Research. 

Cancers from elsewhere in the body that have metastasized to the bone are by far the most common form of bone cancers but have a similar multi-disciplinary approach to treatment. Bone pain in someone’s hip, for example, may be the first sign or symptom that a cancer has already developed elsewhere. 

Patients should seek medical attention and opinions until they are comfortable and knowledgeable about their treatment options, Dr. Norris said. 

The first step to diagnosis is a simple X-ray. Based on discussions with your providers, this may be followed by further imaging studies, such as MRIs or CTs, or even a biopsy. 

Often, the investigation into a potential bone cancer diagnosis begins with patients communicating problems with their primary care providers. 

Frequently, symptoms of bone cancers show up as knee pain, pain to other extremities or even night pain when patients find themselves waking in the middle of the night hurting. From there, a radiologist can most often pinpoint an abnormality using an X-ray. 

“Any sort of unexplained pain you’re having in your extremities should be investigated,” Dr. Norris said. “And we are here to help.”