Bone Sarcoma
Bone sarcoma is a cancer that starts in the bone. Sometimes a bone sarcoma is called a primary bone cancer. It is uncommon, with an average of about 670 diagnoses in the UK each year. Bone sarcoma can affect any bone in the body but the most common area it affects is the legs. The four most common types of bone sarcoma are:

Chondrosarcoma
Chondrosarcoma develops in the cartilage cells. It mostly affects adults above the age of 40 and the most common sites are the upper arm, pelvis and thigh bone.

Osteosarcoma
Osteosarcoma is mostly diagnosed in teenagers and young people; however, it can also affect older adults. It mostly affects the knee, thigh bone, shin bone or upper arm. They make up about 30% of all bone sarcoma diagnoses.

Ewing’s sarcoma
It most commonly affects teenagers and young adults with the pelvis, thigh bone and shin bone being the most commonly-affected areas. In rare cases, Ewing’s sarcoma can develop in the soft tissue around the bone, this is called soft tissue sarcoma. It is sometimes called extraosseous sarcoma – extra means outside, osseous means bone. Ewing’s sarcoma can also start in subcutaneous tissue, this means beneath the skin.

Chordoma
Chordoma makes up only 6% of all bone sarcoma diagnoses and most commonly affects adults in their 40’s and 50’s. The majority of chordomas (50%) arise in the sacrum (the bottom of the spine); however, 30% arise at the base of the skull and the remaining 20% arise in other locations in the spine.