There are many different types of bone tumours, but the two most common kinds which affect teenagers are osteosarcoma (spoken as 'os-tee-o 'sar-coma') and Ewing's sarcoma. Sarcoma is the term used to describe a tumour which starts in connective tissue (e.g. eg bones, muscle, fat or cartilage) and the term used before it tells you the type of cell that is involved.
It's important to know the type, so that you are given the right treatment for your condition. Your doctor can tell the type through a variety of tests, but the most important is looking at the cells under a microscope.
osteosarcoma
Sometimes called osteogenic (spoken as os-tee-o gen-ic) sarcomas, they tend to affect the legs, especially around the knee joint, but can affect any bone.
Ewing's sarcoma
Ewing's can also affect any bone, but it most commonly affects the pelvis (the lower cavity of the body made up of the tail bone and the two hip bones) and the leg bones (femur and tibia, our thigh and shin bones).
Most of the information in this section is about all types of bone cancer, but if you have a rare type and you want to know more, contact us.
