Screening for bone cancer
Screening aims to find a cancer early. No national screening is available for primary bone cancer.
What is cancer screening?
Screening means testing people for early stages of a disease. This is before they have any symptoms. For screening to be useful the tests:
- need to be reliable at picking up cancers
- overall must do more good than harm to people taking part
- must be something that people are willing to do
Screening tests are not perfect and have some risks. The screening programme should also be good value for money for the NHS.
No screening available
There is no national screening programme because:
- this condition is very rare, so many people would have unnecessary tests
- the benefits don't outweigh the costs
Screening for people at high risk
It is helpful to screen people who are at higher risk of primary bone cancer. This includes people with particular bone diseases or genetic conditions that increases the risk of bone cancer. Doctors are aware of these conditions.
If you are at higher risk of developing bone cancer, your specialist will see you in clinic and you are likely to have regular x-rays. People with a genetic condition called Li Fraumeni syndrome have regular screening for cancers.
