Causes of Bone Cancer 

The exact causes of primary bone cancer are unknown. Research is continually being carried out to try to find the causes. As many bone cancers occur in teenagers and young people it is thought that they may be related in some way to changes that occur when bones are growing. People who have had previous high doses of radiotherapy to a bone have a slightly increased risk of developing cancer of that bone. This is still a very small risk for most people. Older people who have a type of long-term disease of the bone, known as Paget’s disease, have an increased risk of developing bone cancer.

If a person has had a benign (non-cancerous) bone tumour known as a osteochondroma or a chondroma he or she will have a slightly increased risk of developing a type of cancer of the bone known as a chondrosarcoma. Most bone cancers are not caused by an inherited faulty gene, but some people with genetic conditions have an increased risk of developing bone cancer. People who have an inherited condition known as Li-Fraumeni syndrome have an increased risk of osteosarcoma and some other types of cancer. Children who have a rare type of eye cancer (retinoblastoma) that is caused by an inherited faulty gene have an increased risk of osteosarcoma.

Another rare genetic condition called hereditary multiple exostoses (HME) can also increase the risk of developing chondrosarcoma. It is often thought that an injury to a bone may cause cancer, but research seems to show that injuries do not cause bone cancer. An injury may draw attention to an existing bone cancer.