Bone tumor is an inexact term, which can be used for both benign and malignant abnormal growths found in bone, but is most commonly used for primary tumors of bone, such as osteosarcoma (or osteoma). It is less exactly applied to secondary, or metastatic tumors found in bone.
Symptoms:
The most common symptom of bone tumors is pain, but many patients will not experience any symptoms, except for a painless mass. Some bone tumors may weaken the structure of the bone, causing pathologic fractures.
Treatment:
Treatment of bone tumors is highly dependant on the type of tumor. Treatment for some bone cancers may involve surgery, such as limb amputation, or limb-sparing surgery (often in combination with chemotherapy and radiation therapy). Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are effective in some tumors (such as Ewing's sarcoma) but less so in others (such as chondrosarcoma).