Bone Cancer Prevention

Bone cancer prevention includes avoiding the risk factors and increasing the protective factors that can be controlled. While bone cancer prevention methods do not guarantee that someone will not develop this disease, it does decrease the chances. If you believe you have risk factors for bone cancer, your doctor can suggest additional methods of bone cancer prevention that might be effective for you.

 

Bone Cancer Prevention: An Introduction

Anything that increases a person's chances of developing bone cancer is called a bone cancer risk factor; anything that decreases a person's chances of developing it is called a bone cancer protective factor. Bone cancer prevention means avoiding the risk factors and increasing the protective factors that can be controlled. While bone cancer prevention does not guarantee that someone will not develop bone cancer, it does decrease the risk of it happening.
 

Bone Cancer Prevention: Know the Risk Factors

Although some risk factors for bone cancer can be avoided, many cannot. Specific risk factors for bone cancer include:
 
  • Being a child or young adult
  • Previous radiation or chemotherapy
  • History of Paget's disease
  • Family history of bone cancer
  • People with hereditary retinoblastoma.
     
At this point, bone cancer research scientists have not found any bone cancer protective factors.
 

Can Bone Cancer Be Prevented?

Although certain bone cancer risk factors can be avoided, it is important to keep in mind that avoiding risk factors does not guarantee that you will not get bone cancer. Some people are more sensitive than others to factors that can cause bone cancer. Talk to your doctor about methods of bone cancer prevention that might be effective for you.
 
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD