Primary bone cancer begins in bone tissue and is a relatively rare form of cancer. It occurs most often in the bones of the arms and legs, and children and young people are far more likely to get it than are adults, according to HealthScout.com. Metastatic bone cancer, more common than primary bone cancer, is cancer that has spread to the bone from other areas of the body. There are many established chemotherapy drugs as well as some investigational new drugs that doctors can use to fight bone cancer.
Function
According to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, doctors frequently use chemotherapy drugs before bone cancer surgery to shrink a tumor so that surgeons can more easily remove it. This treatment is referred to as induction chemotherapy. Chemotherapy drugs are also employed after bone cancer surgery for the purpose of destroying any cancer cells that are left behind after surgeons have removed the principal tumor.
Facts
According to the CancerHelp UK website, doctors usually employ combinations of chemotherapy drugs to treat bone cancer. Treatment for Ewing's sarcoma, a primary bone cancer that starts in the middle of the large bones, frequently involves the VIDE chemotherapy regimen. The name of the regimen comes from the first letters of each of the four drugs involved: vincristine, ifosamide, doxorubicin and etoposide. Each cycle of therapy lasts three weeks, and patients generally get six cycles. Treatments for osteosarcoma, a type of primary bone cancer that starts at the ends of bones, include a regimen of cisplatin, doxorubicin and methotrexate. Patients on this regimen also receive folinic acid to alleviate the side effects. The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center reports that doctors also use a four-drug chemotherapy regimen for osteosarcoma that includes cisplatin, doxorubicin, methotrexate and ifosfamide.
Investigational Therapies
Patients who suffer a recurrence of Ewing's sarcoma may be placed into a disease-specific clinical trial at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In this trial they will receive an investigational treatment called an IGF1-receptor antagonist, which is a monoclonal antibody drug that stimulates the immune system to attack and destroy bone cancer cells. In addition, patients with either Ewing's sarcoma or osteosarcoma that has not responded well to standard chemotherapy may enroll in a clinical trial that tests the novel monoclonal antibody drug R1507.
Warning
According to HealthScout.com, effective dosages of chemotherapy drugs for bone cancer are at levels that very often produce serious side effects.
Considerations
Chemotherapy drugs for bone cancer can cause liver and kidney damage and can lower blood cell counts. For this reason patients must undergo regular blood tests during treatment to monitor the functioning of the liver, kidneys and bone marrow, says the American Cancer Society.
