Bone Tumors

Bone tumors occur most often in children and adolescents. They may be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous), though benign tumors are more common. Both kinds may grow and affect healthy bone tissue, but benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body and are rarely life-threatening.

Primary bone cancer is not the same as cancer that spreads to the bone from another part of the body. Primary bone cancer is rare, with approximately 2,500 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States.

Our team has extensive experience in bone tumor treatment.

Bone Tumor Care: The Nemours Difference

• Our Musculoskeletal Tumor Program is one of the top pediatric programs of its kind in the country. That’s because one of our pediatric orthopedic surgeons is among the few physicians specifically trained to care for children with bone and soft tissue tumors.  
• An entire team of specialists – from both the Department of Orthopedics and several other related specialties, such as Surgery and Hematology/Oncology – combine their expertise for your child’s treatment. Working together, we offer the most comprehensive and effective care for children with benign or malignant tumors.  
• As a member of the Children’s Cancer Group, a national cooperative research organization that develops and tests innovative surgical and medical treatments for pediatric and adolescent cancers, we have the most up-to-date treatment for rare and challenging cancers.
• Until recently, amputation was typically the only option for malignant tumors affecting the limbs. But, using the latest specialized surgical techniques and recent advances in research, our physicians have found that they can save a child’s limbs in many cases.  
• Following surgery, we work closely with your family and primary care doctor to provide rehabilitation and long-term follow-up care.
• We treat the whole child, not just the condition. The compassionate expertise of our doctors—coupled with our child-centered, family-oriented atmosphere—helps to minimize the stress families and patients often experience throughout the evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation process.  
• Our team has special experience and expertise with polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, also called McCune-Albright syndrome or the Albright syndrome. In this syndrome, there is bone disease with fractures and deformity of the legs, arms, and skull; pigment patches of the skin; and endocrine (hormonal) symptoms including early puberty (early menstruation, development of breasts and pubic hair) and an increased rate of growth.

Conditions We Treat

• Polyostotic fibrous dysplasia 
• A variety of benign childhood bone tumors, including:
  • Unicameral (simple) bone cyst
  • Aneurysmal cyst (a blood-filled, tumor like cyst) 
  • Chondroblastoma (a rare benign tumor consisting of cells that produce cartilage)
  • Fibroxanthoma
• Malignant bone tumors, including:
  • Osteogenic sarcoma
  • Ewing’s sarcoma

Services We Offer

• Tumor staging
• Medical imaging evaluation, including computed tomography (CAT scan), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine, and ultrasound
• Diagnostic biopsy
• Surgical management, including resection (removal of a portion or all of a tumor), and reconstruction
• Reconstruction options, including conventional grafts (replacing tissue with either natural or synthetic materials), large segment allografts (replacing tissue with tissue donated by another person), modular and custom endoprosthetic replacement (reconstruction that uses an internal prosthetic)
• Prosthetic fabrication and fitting provided for patients requiring amputation