Bone Cancer Treatment Options

Implants

Our goal at SCCA is to safely treat your cancer without amputating your arm or leg if at all possible. For 19 out of 20 patients with bone cancer, we are able to spare the limb, removing only the cancerous bone and replacing it with either a metallic implant or a bone transplant, thanks to the Northwest Tissue Center.

If your cancer is close to a joint, such as a knee, your doctor will want to use a metallic implant, or artificial joint, to replace the diseased bone.

The most common joint to be lost to bone cancer is the knee, and we do more surgeries to replace the knee joint than any other. It is also possible to use a metallic implant to replace an elbow, hip, or shoulder, if your cancer is close to one of these joints.

During your surgery, your doctors will remove several inches of bone on either side of the joint. The implant, which is something like a flexible hinge made of metal and plastic, will be cemented in place. Your own muscles and ligaments will be reattached, as will your knee cap, if possible.

You can learn more about these implants on the Stryker Howmedica Osteonics web site.

Possible complications with implants include infection, either in the first few weeks after the surgery or later on, loosening of the cement that holds the implant, and wear and tear on the joint from use. For young patients in particular, the joint may have to be replaced after several years. Some people experience weakness in the limb, because of muscles and other tissues that were lost during surgery.

Implant Registry
Patients treated with a metallic tumor prosthesis (joint replacement) at SCCA will have their surgery at one of SCCA's parent organizations, UW Medical Center or Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center, and will be carefully tracked through the Implant Registry. The registry tracks patients' functional results and causes of implant failure, if any.

The Implant Registry is sponsored by Stryker Howmedica Osteonics, a company that makes most of the artificial joints used by the Sarcoma Service at SCCA. It allows our patients to receive accurate information on the need for follow-up and also receive education on their future limitations and performance abilities with an artificial joint.

More Information on Treatment Options:

• Surgery
• Limb-Sparing Surgery
• Radiation
• Chemotherapy

 

August 2007