Osteosarcoma, which often occurs in teenagers, will cause joint pain around the knee joint at the initial stage, which is easy to be mistaken for growth pain or sprain, and it is easy to miss the treatment opportunity.

　　 Timely check for persistent unexplained leg pain

Obviously, he is a very lively child, but a few months ago, he found that his legs became thicker and thicker, and the pain made him unable to sleep. But he thought it was because he had more activities. He would like to have a rest. In the last month, his symptoms did not abate at all, but his walking became a problem. Mingming's parents hurried to take their children to the hospital for inspection. Later, it was diagnosed as osteosarcoma. Yao Weitao, the doctor in charge of it, said that osteosarcoma is a highly malignant tumor originating from bone tissue. The most common onset age of patients is 10-20 years old. Every year, 100~200 children in our province get sick.

The main manifestation of the patient is limb pain, the most common is lower limbs, especially around the knee joint pain. This is very similar to the pain in the growth period of adolescent bones. The main difference between the two is that the former will have nocturnal pain, and the pain and dysmenorrhea will not be relieved after rest and medication, but will gradually increase; Another manifestation of the patient is the presence of a mass in the diseased part of the limbs. The mass is as hard as a hard stone and cannot be pushed or pressed. Other symptoms include lameness, fever, etc.

　　 The course of disease progresses rapidly, and the treatment should be done quickly

Yao Weitao said that because of the high degree of malignancy of osteosarcoma and the rapid development of the disease, the previous concept that suffering from osteosarcoma is equivalent to sentencing patients to "death". However, with the continuous development of medical technology, the effective control rate of the disease is more than 90%.

The current concept believes that all malignant tumors are a systematic disease of the human body, which cannot be cured by surgery alone, but also requires systematic and standardized systemic chemotherapy. According to this concept, it is wrong to use simple amputation or curettage for osteosarcoma. It will not only fail to achieve the purpose of treatment, but also delay the disease, even accelerate the development of the disease, leading to tumor proliferation and metastasis.

　　 Early formal treatment is the key to cure

Yao Weitao reminded that because osteosarcoma is a malignant tumor caused by gene mutation, there is no effective preventive measure for the disease with modern medical technology. Children suffering from osteosarcoma should be found and treated as early as possible, and should be consulted and treated in regular specialized hospitals.

After the pathological diagnosis of osteosarcoma, chemical or radioactive treatment will be started. Resection of tumor tissue is an important step in the treatment of osteosarcoma. With the improvement of tumor surgery technology and the development of implant research, limb preservation therapy has shown a good therapeutic prospect. Consolidation chemotherapy or radiotherapy after tumor tissue resection is very important to control tumor metastasis and improve survival rate, but early detection and timely treatment are fundamental. □ Xing Pengju, reporter of Oriental Today

Expert files

Yao Weitao, Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Orthopaedics, Henan Cancer Hospital. Doctor of Orthopaedic Surgery of the First Military Medical University of the People's Liberation Army of China, and post doctor of Shantou University School of Medicine.