Facts About Ewing's Sarcoma : Adolescent-Affecting Cancer

What is it?
Ewing's Sarcoma is a cancer that affects the bone, more commonly found in the ribs, the femur, the pelvis, and the humerus. Its most common site is the diaphyses of the femur. Ewing's Sarcoma's cells can metastasize to other areas of the body including bone marrow, the heart, and the lungs, making it very dangerous.

The Symptoms
Pain and swelling are the primary indicators of the cancer, which can be accompanied by redness, fever, weight loss, fatigue, and paralysis if the tumor is in the spinal region. Other signs include numbness in the area and small protrusions visible on the epidermis of the appendage affected.

The Affected
The disease is exclusively limited to Caucasians, with males being more prone to it than females. It develops between the ages of 10 and 20, making it mainly a disease affecting adolescents. It occurs in every one teenager out of 50,000 and accounts for 30% of bone cancers in children.

The Medications
A combination of chemotherapy or radiation is needed with surgery to battle the malignant tumor. After a biopsy, an excision may be performed after confirming the malignancy of the tumor.

The purpose of chemotherapy and/or radiation is to stunt the growth of the tumor and eventually diminish it and prevent it from reoccurring. It is also an effective method since metastasis may have occurred upon the diagnosis, allowing it to dissipate the cancer at any location in the body where it might have been spreading to.

Chemotherapy may last from 6 to 12 months while radiation therapy can last from 5 to 8 weeks. Survival of the localized disease (contained in one area) with chemotherapy is from 65-70%. Long term survival for metastatic disease (spread) is 25-30%.

The Surgery
The removal of the tumor occurs when surgeons know the main function of the body part involved will not be lost. The bone can be reconstructed artificially, using bone grafts, or a combination of both.

Surgery is the most common solution to treating Ewing's Sarcoma. It can take up to several hours depending on the size of the tumor and the area affected. The Recovery Time
Recovering from the removal of a tumor is similar to that of any other surgery. Usually the patient stays interned at the hospital for a couple of days before going home and resting for a week.

Closure
Ewing's Sarcoma is an interesting disease, as most are, because of its uniqueness of growing on the bone. Most individuals would think tumors surface from fibrous tissue such as muscular or cardiac tissues. The positive side of it is that when diagnosed early on, most patients come out of the operation or chemo room as survivors.

Its causes are unknown, making it an intriguing condition. Nothing is known that can ultimately stop is, such as a vaccine would stop a virus. There is also mystery surrounding on why it almost always only affects Caucasians, particularly teen boys.

This cancer sets itself apart from other cancers in that it harvests itself on bone tissue, something most people would never suspect.