Recovery From Bone Cancer

Bone cancer is a rare type of cancer that attacks the cells of your bones, according to the American Cancer Society. Primary bone cancer begins directly in the bone cells, while secondary bone cancer starts in another part of the body and metastasizes or spread out to the bone cells. There are three main types of bone cancers: Osteosarcoma, Chondrosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma.

Recovery and Treatment

• Recovery from bone cancer depends on getting the appropriate diagnosis and treatment. Early diagnosis is especially important since it is much easier to recover from Stage I Bone Cancer, with an approximately 84 percent survival rate, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), than from Stage IV bone cancer, with an approximately 30 percent survival rate. Many symptoms are associated with bone cancer, including pain and swelling within a bone or a specific area of bone, fractures of the bone where bone cancer is located, rapid weight loss, night sweats, fevers or chills, and extreme fatigue.

Surgery And Bone Cancer Recovery

• According to the NCI, the specific treatment depends on a number of factors, including the location, size and type of the sarcoma and the stage that the cancer is in. In addition, the patient's age, and current health conditions can play a role in recovery.

  The NCI reports that surgery is common and can include excisions, which are the complete removal of tissue, tumor or organs from the body. Other techniques for bone cancer surgery include amputation to help spare other parts from the spread of cancerous cells. In addition, a doctor can choose to replace joints, perform reconstructive surgery or use palliative surgery to help relieve bone pain.

Chemotherapy & Radiation

• Chemotherapy is also a commonly used treatment for bone cancer. Conventional chemotherapy provides drugs in one large dose to help remove the cells from the body, internally. For bone cancer treatment, a form of chemotherapy called fractionated dose chemotherapy is implemented where only a small, concentrated dosage is applied to the body. The NCI states that this is usually the preferred method of treatment for early stage bone cancer among healthier individuals because it does not carry the severe side-effects of conventional chemotherapy.

  Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy is a third option. IMRT treatment uses a highly advanced computer that takes the statistics of the specific case, such as patient's age, the size of the tumor, its shape and location, and develops a precise dose of radiation treatment to the correct area, using 3D technology.

Recovery Period

• The time frame for recovery differs depending on each individual case and the specific treatment used. One important factor is how much of the original, main tumor is able to be removed or destroyed by the treatments. The American Cancer Society reports that the recovery time can range from one year up to several years, if patients recover at all. However, the ACS reports that the chance of a full recovery for patients suffering from bone cancer has drastically improved since the development of advanced chemotherapy and radiation techniques.

Prognosis for Recovery

• Cancer recovery rates are reported in terms of five-year survival statistics, which are adjusted to account for unrelated causes of death. Patients may live for longer than the five years reported in the recovery tables. According to the National Cancer Institute, 67.5 percent of Caucasian men diagnosed with bone cancer are alive five years after diagnosis. This number is higher for Caucasian women, at 72.1percent. African-American men also fare better than white men in recovery statistics, with a five-year survival rate of 70.0 percent for African-American Men. African-American women, however, have a lower prognosis for recovery than Caucasian women, with a 68.4 percent recovery rate.