Everything You Need to Know About Bone Cancer: Overview, Causes, Types, Signs and Symptoms, Diagnosis, Stages, and Treatment
Signs and symptoms
Bone cancer symptoms – Pain
Pain: Bone pain is the most common symptom in bone cancer. It can be intermittent at first, usually worse at night and during walking. As the tumor keeps growing, the pain remains constant and becomes worse.
Swelling: The area around the bone tumor may start to swell, but this depends on where it is located. You could feel a lump sometimes when it is superficial. If bone cancer is located somewhere near the throat, you could feel difficulty swallowing or breathing.
Bone fractures: They are known as pathological fractures because bone tissue becomes fragile and breaks with a mild or moderate impact that would not affect healthy bones. Fractures can be small and difficult to notice, but patients describe a sudden onset of severe bone pain.
Numbness: In some cases, the bone tumor becomes large and starts pressing on the passing nerves. If that is your case, you can start feeling tingling or numbness in the legs, arms, or an area related to the location of bone cancer.
Weight loss: Similar to other types of cancer, bone cancer consumes a lot of resources and causes a negative calorie balance. These patients may lose weight without making any dietary or exercise modifications.
Metastasis symptoms: After bone cancer spreads to other tissues, it starts causing additional symptoms. For example, it could spread to the lungs and cause severe breathing difficulties.
