Bone Cancer Stages & Prognosis

Bone cancer is staged mainly by its spread--whether it is still located in the bone or whether it has migrated to other areas. When a biopsy is done, the tumor is also graded on how likely it is to spread. Prognosis differs depending on the type of bone cancer.

Stage I

• Stage I bone cancers are low grade (they are deemed unlikely to spread) and haven't spread outside the bone.

Stage II

• Stage II bone cancers are high grade (they are likely to spread) but still haven't spread outside the bone.

Stage III

• Stage III bone cancers are in multiple places in the same bone. They can be low or high grade.

Stage IV

• Stage IV bone cancers have spread outside the bone. They can be low or high grade.

Prognosis

• It's very hard to predict overall survival rates for bone cancer in general, just because different types (Ewing's sarcoma, osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma) are treated differently and may respond better to certain types of treatment.