What Affects Bone Cancer Survival Rates?

Bone cancer survival rates are affected by factors such as the stage of the cancer, the type of bone cancer and the patient’s overall health. Osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that affects children and young adults, has an average survival rate of 69 percent. Other types of bone cancer, such as an aggressive chondrosarcoma, have survival rates as low as 40 percent. The patient is generally more likely to survive if the cancer is caught early, and if he is in good general health. Unless otherwise stated, bone cancer survival rates are listed for five years.

Cancer is a condition whereby spontaneous growth occurs in different parts of the body. These growths may push on vital parts of the body and cause other problems. Cancer can occur in the lungs, brain, blood, cervix, liver, bones and other locations. The treatment for cancer is often surgery to remove the cancerous growth, followed by chemotherapy or radiation to destroy the surrounding affected tissue. These treatments are invasive and aggressive in nature, and this combined with the effects of the tumor itself makes cancer a very serious condition.

The most common type of bone cancer is osteosarcoma, which usually affects people between the ages of 10 and 25. Generally, it is located in a long arm or leg bone such as the femur, and the survival rate will be around 69 percent. Chondrosarcoma is a type of bone cancer that is more likely to affect people over the age of 40. This type of cancer can be aggressive or non-aggressive. The survival rate for the aggressive form is 30 percent, but the non-aggressive version has a 90 percent survival rate.

Ewing’s sarcoma is another type of bone cancer that generally occurs in children between the ages of four and 15, and has a big risk of spreading to other vital organs such as the lungs. The bone cancer survival rate for this condition is only 65 percent and lasts for three years. This rate drops dramatically if the cancer spreads to other bodily tissues or organs.

Other factors that affect bone cancer survival rates are things such as the general health of the patient and how early the cancer has been caught. For example, osteosarcoma survival rates rise to 84 percent if the cancer is caught at an early stage, where it is still localized. A patient in good physical health is also more likely to survive the condition.