Concern over failure to raise survival rate for bone cancer

Some 500 people, mainly children and young adults, are diagnosed each year in the UK with bone cancer.

But a report by the Yorkshire-based Bone Cancer Research Trust finds that while survival rates have dramatically improved for most cancers, those for patients with bone cancer have remained static.

The most common type of the disease osteosarcoma has a five-year survival of 42 per cent – worse than that for leukaemia, ovarian cancer and bladder cancer. More than half of those with the condition are under 24, with many facing amputations.

The charity is calling on GPs to make faster X-ray referrals for those with symptoms which are commonly dismissed as a sporting injury or growing pains.

Triya Mistry, from Halifax, was only four when she began suffering leg pains. But despite repeated visits to doctors she was only diagnosed with the Ewing’s sarcoma in an X-ray when her parents took her to Bradford Royal Infirmary after she failed to recover from a playground fall. Four years on and she has undergone chemotherapy followed by a series of operations after the tumour was removed from her right thigh by experts at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham.

Her father Pankaj Mistry said she had complained of problems before she was diagnosed but doctors had blamed them on growing pains and it was not for five months until the diagnosis was made. After chemotherapy, she had two operations which failed until she was given a prosthetic replacement bone in a third operation. This was partially holding despite breaking and she would now need further surgery in future.

Triya, who has been clear of cancer since 2009, needs crutches to get about and a wheelchair for longer journeys.

He said it was frustrating there was little research into the condition, with treatment remaining the same for the last 20 years.

“One great about Triya is that she’s so determined to carry on - she’s so strong and that gives us strength as much as we give her. She tolerates the pain and the upheaval because she knows it’s necessary to save her leg,” he said.

“But she does feel robbed of what other kids can do - running around, jumping, skipping, kicking balls around.

“It does affect her and we as parents have to do our best to focus on the positive aspects and compensate for what she can’t do.”

He added: “We are the lucky ones - there are a lot more people who haven’t been so lucky.”

In the report for the National Cancer Intelligence Network, researchers from the West Midlands Cancer Intelligence Unit found five-year survival rates in the UK for primary bone cancer were “considerably lower” than the 66 per cent in the United States.

Harriet Unsworth, information and research officer at the Leeds-based Bone Cancer Research Trust, said: “Primary bone cancer symptoms can include painful bones or swollen joints and this can easily be misdiagnosed by GPs as a sporting injury or ‘growing pains’.

“Many children and young adults have had to make several visits to their GP over many months before they are finally sent for an X-ray or referred to a specialist.

“That can have a huge impact on their chances of survival.

“GPs need to be more aware of primary bone cancer so they can consider a diagnosis of bone cancer much earlier than they do currently.”