Bone Cancer - Yale Medicine Explains

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07/25/23

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Our bones are made up of two basic types of cells—osteoblasts, which create and maintain new bone, and osteoclasts, which dissolve old bone. Normally, bone cells know when to grow and when to stop growing. But sometimes, abnormal bone cells develop and grow at an uncontrolled rate, forming a tumor. Most bone tumors are benign (not cancerous), but a few are cancerous. Known as primary bone cancers, these are quite rare, accounting for less than 0.2 percent of all cancers. The majority of cases of cancer involving bone are metastatic, meaning the disease has spread to the bones from another place in the body. Treatment for bone cancer depends on the type of tumor, whether it is primary or metastatic, and the extent of the tumor, and often includes some combination of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy.