Treatment

Chondrosarcoma treatment often involves surgery to remove the cancer. Other treatments might be recommended in certain situations. Which options are best for you depends on where your cancer is located, how quickly it's growing, whether it has grown to involve other structures, your overall health and your preferences.

Surgery

The goal of surgery for chondrosarcoma is to remove the cancer and a margin of healthy tissue around it. The type of surgery you undergo will depend on the location of your chondrosarcoma. Options might include:

• Scraping the cancer away from the bone. Small and slow-growing chondrosarcomas in the arms and legs are sometimes treated with a procedure to scrape the cancer cells from the bone. The surgeon might apply cold gas or a chemical to kill any cancer cells that remain. The bone can be repaired with a bone graft or bone cement, if needed.
• Cutting away the cancer and some healthy tissue around it. Most chondrosarcomas require a procedure to cut away more of the bone in order to remove all of the cancer. For chondrosarcoma in an arm or a leg, it might be necessary to remove the entire limb. When possible, surgeons remove the cancer in a way that preserves the limb. For example, the surgeon might remove the affected bone and replace it or reconstruct it (limb salvage surgery).

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy uses high-powered energy beams from sources such as X-rays and protons to kill cancer cells. During radiation therapy, you lie on a table while a machine moves around you, directing radiation to precise points on your body.

Radiation might be recommended for chondrosarcomas located in places that make surgery tricky or if the cancer can't be removed completely during surgery. Radiation may also be used to control cancer that spreads to other areas of the body.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. It's not often used for chondrosarcoma because this type of cancer often doesn't respond to chemotherapy. But some fast-growing types of chondrosarcoma may respond to this treatment.