Description: General (cancer) and Specific (topic choice)
- Ewing’s Sarcoma is a tumor that arises in a primitive nerve cell within the bone or soft tissue.
- Appears in long bones like the thighbone (femur), the shinbone (tibia), and in the upper arm bone (humerus). Sometimes appears in flat bones like the pelvis, the spine, and in the ribs.
- This is a type of bone cancer, affects adults and children between the ages of 10 and 20 years old.
Risks/Causes
- There are no known risk factors for developing this type of cancer. There is no genetic link for this disease either; also you can’t be prevented from getting the disease.
- The disease is not caused by dietary, social, or behavioral habits.
Symptoms
- Some of the symptoms usually include pain and possible swelling where the tumor is located. The tumor may be there for many months before it gets big enough to cause pain and swelling.
- An injury may cause attention for the tumor to develop.
Treatment of cancer: Chemotherapy
- Types of treatment for this cancer are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
- Chemotherapy is used to kill the primary tumor and any spread of the cancer. It is injected into a vein in the chest. This is treatment is done in cycles. There are rest periods between the cycles to let the blood count recover.
- This treatment uses various types of drugs. It usually takes one year to finish the process of it. Surgery and radiation can be done either before or during the chemotherapy treatment.
Treatment of cancer: Surgery
- Surgery is used to remove the primary tumor; most of the time other small tumors as well (if the tumor has spread).
- Some people need more than one operation to keep their limb functioning for the rest of their lives. Surgery can also reconstruct the bone, joint, or soft tissue sites.
Treatment of cancer: Radiation
- Radiation is a type of therapy that can destroy the cancer cells and shrink the tumors. This is usually used so the primary tumors of the cancer don’t come back.
Complications/Progression
- Some complications from the surgery include infections, problems with the artificial bone, the joint, and the wound healings.
- Some after-effects of the surgery include small scars and the loss of an arm or leg. Patients would go to physical therapy to help them recuperate or get used to the new life changes.
- Some late side effects from the surgery include heart and lung problems, decreased growth and development of the bone.
- The side effects from the chemotherapy treatment include hair loss, mouth sores, nausea, and fevers.
- Risks of radiation include skin damage, muscle scarring, loss of joint flexibility, damage of nearby organs, loss of bone growth in growing children, secondary cancers caused by radiation, chronic swelling, and slow wound healing.
- The progressions of the cancer is that it may appear in other areas in the patients bodies. It will likely spread to to the lungs, into the bone marrow, and to other bones in the body.
Lifestyle changes
- Some people need follow up care so the doctors can monitor any late effects from the different treatment that were taken place.
- Some patients doctors will want them to have physical exams ( x-rays, CT, MRI, or bone scans) every 2 to 3 months following the treatments that they recently had.
- If some patients lose a limb and have a prosthetic leg or arm they will then go to physical therapy so they can work on the movement of their legs/arms.
Something shocking, surprising, or interesting!
- Ewing’s sarcoma rarely appears in adults; it only appears in young adults and children. This cancer is more common in males than in females.
- African Americans or Asians are at a lower risk of developing this type of disease (cancer). Caucasians are more likely to develop this type of disease (cancer).