Types of Bone Cancer: An Introduction
There are several different kinds of
bone cancer, including:
- Benign (noncancerous)
- Malignant (cancerous)
- Cancers that start in the bone (primary bone cancer)
- Cancers that start somewhere else in the body and end up in the bone (secondary bone cancer).
Bone tumors can be benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Benign bone tumors are more common than malignant bone tumors. Although both types of bone cancer may grow and compress
healthy bone tissue and absorb or replace it with abnormal tissue, benign tumors do not spread and are rarely life threatening.
Malignant Bone Cancer Types
The three malignant types of bone cancer are:
Osteosarcoma
The most common form of bone cancer is osteosarcoma, which develops in the new tissue of growing bones. Osteosarcoma is commonly diagnosed in people between the ages of 10 and 25. Common areas where this
bone cancer type appears include the:
- Knees
- Upper legs
- Upper arms.
(Click Osteosarcoma for more information about this type of cancer.)