WHAT CAUSES BONE CANCER?

People often think that a knock or injury to a bone can cause a cancer. There is very little evidence for this. It is more likely that an injury causes swelling, which shows up a cancer that is already there. It may also be true that a bone affected by cancer is weakened and so more likely to become damaged in an accident.

​

No one knows exactly what causes cancer of the bone, but several risk factors have been identified. These include:

• radiation

• other bone diseases

• and genetic conditions

​

Radiation

Exposure to radiation can cause bone cancer. If you have had radiotherapy to a bone before, you are at an increased risk of getting a primary bone cancer. This is a very small risk for most people. The greatest risk is for those treated at a young age with high doses of radiotherapy. Only 1 person in several thousand treated with radiotherapy will get a bone cancer.

​

Other bone diseases

Two other bone diseases that are not cancer are related to bone cancer risk. If you have had Paget's disease of the bone you have a slightly increased risk of getting a primary bone cancer. If you have a type of benign (non-cancerous) bone tumor called a chondroma or osteochondroma, you have an increased risk of getting a type of bone cancer called chondrosarcoma. Another rare condition called Ollier's disease (also called enchondromatosis) can also increase the risk of developing a chondrosarcoma.

​

Genetic conditions

If you have a condition called Li-Fraumeni syndrome, you have an increased risk of several cancers, including bone cancer. Li-Fraumeni syndrome runs in families. It is caused by an inherited gene defect.

​

There is a type of eye cancer that affects children called hereditary retinoblastoma. This is also caused by faulty genes. Children with this gene defect also have an increased risk of getting osteosarcoma.

​

Another rare genetic condition called HME (hereditary multiple exosteses) can increase the risk of developing a chondrosarcoma later in life.