An Overview of Bone Tumor: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

Bones are the support of the human body and play the most basic supporting role for human physical health. However, there is a type of bone disease that has often been overlooked, that is, bone tumors.

Bone tumors are tumors that occur in the bones or their accessory tissues. There are benign and malignant tumors. Benign bone tumors are easy to cure and have a good prognosis. While malignant bone tumors develop rapidly, with poor prognosis and high mortality.

Causes of bone tumors

The pathogenesis of bone tumors is complex, and there is no exact cause. Internal factors may be related to genes and ; external factors include chemical elements, chronic stimulation of internal and external radiation, and viral infections. In addition, benign bone tumors can become malignant, for example, osteochondromas can develop to be.

Symptoms of bone tumors

1. Pain

Pain is the main symptom that appears in the early stage of bone tumors. It is mild and intermittent at first. With the progress of the disease, the pain can gradually aggravate and become continuous. In most patients, the pain worsens at night and affects sleep, and can even extend to the surroundings.

2. Swelling or lumps

Tumors located under the periosteum or superficial appear earlier, and bone expansion and deformation can be observed. If the tumor penetrates outside the bone, a fixed soft tissue mass can be produced.

3. Dysfunction

In the later stage of bone tumor, the function of the affected part will be hindered due to pain and swelling, which may be accompanied by muscle atrophy.

4. Pathological fracture

As long as there is a slight external force at the affected part, it is easy to cause a fracture, which leads to swelling and pain.

5. Systemic symptoms

In the later stage, due to tumor consumption, toxin stimulation and painful torture, a series of systemic symptoms may appear, such as insomnia,, loss of appetite,, , weight loss, anemia, etc.

Diagnosis of bone tumors

Radiological examination can provide valuable information for clarifying the nature, type and scope of bone tumors and deciding the treatment strategy. It is an important examination method for diagnosis of bone tumors.

Histopathological examination is also considered to be the most accurate diagnostic method. In addition, radionuclide examination can be used for the early diagnosis of bone metastases. CT and MRI can detect the diseased tissue earlier with high accuracy.

Treatments of bone tumors

The treatments for benign tumors are mostly and. If completely removed, they generally do not recur and heal completely.

For malignant tumors, surgical resection is the main method of treatment. Amputation and joint dissection are the most commonly used methods. However, due to advances in chemotherapy methods, in recent years, some doctors have advocated tumor resection or and replacement with artificial. In addition, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy can be used as treatments for bone tumors.

Scientists are still working on better treatment, for example, bispecific antibody application in osteology has been widely explored.

"A nanobody bispecific antibody named ALX-0141 is designed to treat bone loss related disorders, and is currently in phase I clinical trials, which may be further developed for bone resorptive diseases, such as in cancer-related bone diseases, osteoporosis, and other disorders." as introduced by a scientist focusing on bsAb engineering services at Creative Biolabs.

Bone tumor is a serious disease, although it is not incurable, it is best to prevent at early stages. For unexplainable bone pain, the possible cause should be investigated as soon as possible, and the possibility of bone tumor should not be ignored.