What is osteosarcoma?
Osteosarcoma is a type of bone cancer that begins in the cells that form bones. Osteosarcoma is most often found in the long bones — more often the legs, but sometimes the arms — but it can start in any bone. In very rare instances, it occurs in soft tissue outside the bone.
What are The racial predilections of osteosarcoma?
Osteosarcoma is slightly more common in African-Americans. Before adolescence, it occurs equally in boys and girls. After adolescence, it occurs slightly more often in boys, possibly because of a longer period of skeletal growth.
Is osteosarcoma a heterogeneous disease?
A variation in the WWOX gene is also seen in increased frequency in individuals with osteosarcoma. The genetic factors that contribute to the development of osteosarcomas are heterogeneous; this means that there are different genetic abnormalities or mechanisms that result in susceptibility to disease.
Is osteosarcoma common in Great Danes?
Due to this tendency, high incidence of osteosarcoma is seen in some large dog breeds (St. Bernards and Great Danes). The tumor may be localized at the end of the long bone (commonly in the metaphysis). Most often it affects the proximal end of tibia or humerus, or distal end of femur.
Can osteosarcoma spread to distant areas?
About 4 out of 5 osteosarcomas appear to be localized when they are first found. But even when imaging tests don’t show that the cancer has spread to distant areas, there are likely to be very small areas of cancer spread that can’t be detected with tests.
What are the stages of osteosarcoma?
Low-grade, localized tumors are stage I. High-grade, localized tumors are stage II. Metastatic tumors (regardless of grade) are stage III. Another system sometimes used to stage bone cancers (including osteosarcomas) is the American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) TNM system. This system is based on 4 key pieces of information:
What are the two variants of osteosarcoma?
This type of osteosarcoma is currently recognized as having two variants: synchronous and metachronous. Multifocal osteosarcoma must be differentiated from osteosarcoma metastasized to other bones.