Can osteosarcoma be felt as a lump?

Written by Guan Yu Hua
Orthopedic Surgery
Updated on June 26, 2025
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Osteosarcoma can be felt as a lump, and generally does not show symptoms in the early stages. Once symptoms appear and a mass is palpable, it is usually at the mid to late stage. The main manifestation is pain, with a local mass; the pain tends to be persistent and primarily occurs at night. Additionally, local veins may be distended, and the patient may exhibit cachexia phenomena, with gradual weight loss. Comprehensive body examinations can reveal early lung metastasis in the patient. If there is no metastasis, limb-sparing or amputation surgeries can usually be performed. The presence of distant metastases directly affects the patient's survival time. Early radiographic investigations show a Codman's triangle, and further pathology tests are needed for confirmation. After confirmation, early surgical treatment, combined with postoperative chemotherapy, can improve the patient's survival time, generally with a five-year survival rate of over 50%.

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Written by Peng Li Bo
Oncology
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The difference between sarcoma and osteosarcoma

The relationship between sarcoma and osteosarcoma is very simple; it is a relationship of containment where sarcoma includes osteosarcoma. Simply put, the concept of sarcoma is broader, and osteosarcoma is a subtype under it. Sarcoma itself also includes malignant tumors occurring in blood vessels, fat, nerves, and muscles, such as angiosarcoma, liposarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and leiomyosarcoma, and, of course, osteosarcoma. However, both sarcoma and osteosarcoma are malignant tumors, and it's important to clarify this concept. Moreover, osteosarcoma is more common in young people.

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Written by Wang Cheng Lin
Orthopedics
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How to prevent osteosarcoma

From the perspective of osteosarcoma itself, prevention should involve active exercise, a healthy lifestyle, and a regular schedule. All of these can play a preventive role. However, as of now, there is no clear cause of what triggers osteosarcoma, and it is still unknown. For patients with osteosarcoma, we need to achieve early diagnosis and early treatment. Since many osteosarcomas occur in adolescents, if your child complains of bone pain and feels lumps, and more severely, experiences joint functional impairment, parents must be vigilant. It is advised for the patient to go to a hospital and have an imaging test done to confirm if it is caused by osteosarcoma. Therefore, early diagnosis and early treatment are best.

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Written by Wang Cheng Lin
Orthopedics
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Can osteosarcoma be detected by ultrasound?

Osteosarcomas are generally difficult to diagnose through ultrasound. The diagnosis of osteosarcoma mainly relies on the following methods. The first method is X-rays. X-rays can reveal a typical Codman's triangle appearing in the bone. The second method involves using CT and MRI to detect the extent of the tumor and to see if there is extensive infiltration around it. The third method is nuclear bone scanning. The main significance of nuclear bone scanning is to detect bone tumors early and to distinguish whether there has been any metastasis in the later stages. The fourth method is the gold standard, which is to perform a biopsy. However, this test is invasive, requiring the cutting of tissue from the osteosarcoma for pathological examination. Of course, this method provides the highest accuracy and positive rate.

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Written by Wang Cheng Lin
Orthopedics
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Will osteosarcoma cause the skin to turn red?

Patients with osteosarcoma will not have red skin. The early symptoms of osteosarcoma are generally not obvious, primarily involving localized swelling, with pain around the joints leading to limited joint mobility. As the condition progresses, this pain may shift from intermittent to constant, and the severity of the pain will increase as the disease worsens. The second patient will exhibit a noticeable lump that can be felt; this lump is usually accompanied by significant tenderness. The third symptom is intermittent limping, caused by pain from the tumor during walking, which prevents the patient from bearing weight for extended periods. The fourth aspect involves systemic symptoms common to patients with tumors, such as anemia, mild fever, and even pathological fractures.

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Written by Guan Jing Tao
Orthopedics
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Does osteosarcoma spread through blood?

As far as we know, osteosarcoma is not transmitted through blood or infectious. If osteosarcoma had such infectious characteristics, it would be transmitted in the same way as AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases and would be classified as a contagious disease. However, there has been no notification or relevant guidelines to date indicating that osteosarcoma can be transmitted through blood. Therefore, normal contact with patients with osteosarcoma, or caring for patients with osteosarcoma, including sharing the same food or coming into contact with their blood, generally does not lead to the transmission or contraction of osteosarcoma.