Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Bone Cancer
Cancer that starts in a bone is uncommon. Cancer that has spread to the bone from another part of the body is more common.
There are three types of bone cancer:
- Osteosarcoma - occurs most often between ages 10 and 19. It is more common in the knee and upper arm.
- Chondrosarcoma - starts in cartilage, usually after age 40
- Ewing's sarcoma - occurs most often in children and teens under 19. It is more common in boys than girls.
The most common symptom of bone cancer is pain. Other symptoms vary, depending on the location and size of the cancer. Surgery is often the main treatment for bone cancer. Other treatments may include amputation, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Because bone cancer can come back after treatment, regular follow-up visits are important.
It sits within Cancers and Bones, Joints and Muscles.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Cancer Institute.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Bone Cancer
5,783 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Imatinib Mesylate or Dasatinib in Treating Patients With Previously Untreated Chronic Phase Chronic Myelogenous LeukemiaNational Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Mismatched Related Donor Versus Matched Unrelated Donor Stem Cell Transplantation for Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults With Acute Leukemia or Myelodysplastic SyndromeChildren's Oncology Group
- Naxitamab for High-Risk Neuroblastoma Patients With Primary Refractory Disease or Incomplete Response to Salvage Treatment in Bone and/or Bone MarrowY-mAbs Therapeutics
- Study of Factors Regulating Mast Cell ProliferationNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
- Autologous T Cells Transduced With Retroviral Vectors Expressing TCRs for Participant-specific Neoantigens in Patients With Hematologic MalignanciesNational Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Nivolumab or Nivolumab and Azacitidine in Patients With Recurrent, Resectable OsteosarcomaH. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Bone CancerAmerican Cancer Society
- Bone TumorAmerican Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
- Primary Bone CancerNational Cancer Institute
Symptoms
- Signs and Symptoms of Bone CancerAmerican Cancer Society
Diagnosis and Tests
- Bone BiopsyRadiological Society of North America
- Bone Cancer StagesAmerican Cancer Society
- Bone ScanMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
- Stages of Ewing SarcomaNational Cancer Institute
- Tests for Bone CancerAmerican Cancer Society
- TP53 Genetic TestNational Library of Medicine
Treatments and Therapies
- Drugs Approved for Bone CancerNational Cancer Institute
- Surgery for Bone CancerAmerican Cancer Society
- Treatment Option Overview (Ewing Sarcoma)National Cancer Institute
- Treatment Option Overview (Osteosarcoma or Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma)National Cancer Institute
Prevention and Risk Factors
- Bone Cancer Causes, Risk Factors, and PreventionAmerican Cancer Society
Living With
- After Bone Cancer TreatmentAmerican Cancer Society
Genetics
- Chordoma: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
- Ewing sarcoma: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
- Li-Fraumeni syndrome: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
Statistics and Research
- Bone and Joint CancerNational Cancer Institute
- Key Statistics about Bone CancerAmerican Cancer Society
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Bone NeoplasmsNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: OsteosarcomaNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Sarcoma, EwingNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Bone Neoplasms. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Bone Cancer, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.