Oncology deals with tumors, benign or malignant. Cancers are essentially cells growing out of control and not dying. These out of control cells form a mass or a lump called a tumor. The most critical diagnosis still comes from the patient’s medical history which throws light on the nature of the symptoms. Other diagnostic elements under the modern oncology umbrella include biopsies and tumor markers. The diagnostic tests depend on the nature of the suspected cancer. It could be nuclear medicine like positron emission tomography or it could be radiological methods and scanning techniques like MRIs and ultra sounds.
One of the rare forms of cancer is bone cancer which affects less than 1% of all new cases. Humans have more that 200 bones in their body that provides protection for the internal organs, helps in movement and locomotion, etc. When the bone cells begin to grow out of control and do not die, they end up forming tumors. Primary bone cancer is one with its origins in the bone. However, oncology reveals that more often bone is the location where cancer spreads even though it originated elsewhere.
There are many different types of bone cancers. A type of bone cancer that affects children is osteosarcoma. There are other types of bone cancers like chordoma which affects the spine or chondrosarcoma which affects the cartilage.
Statistically, it is estimated that over 2,600 people will be afflicted with some form of bone cancer or the other. It is also expected that over 1,400 deaths will occur due to bone cancer this year. With surgical oncology gaining ground, the number of deaths can be expected to come down over the years. Oncology faces grave challenges though. There are so many different types of cancers that affect the body. Though cancer remains one of the largest killers, oncology is a growing field with newer developments like interventional oncology.