Whole body

What It Is

Tumors are lumps or masses of abnormal tissue that form when cells in a bone divide uncontrollably (AAOS, n.d.). A growing tumor, even a noncancerous one, can destroy healthy tissue and weaken the bone, making it more likely to break (fracture). Most bone tumors are noncancerous (benign), but some are cancerous (malignant). Benign tumors are not life-threatening and, in most cases, do not spread to other parts of the body. A malignant tumor can spread cancer cells to other parts of the body (metastasize) (AAOS, n.d.).

Cancer can also start somewhere else in the body, such as the breast, lung, prostate, kidney or thyroid, and spread to bone. This is called secondary bone cancer (or metastatic bone disease), and it is treated differently from cancer that starts in the bone (AAOS, n.d.; NHS, 2025b). Multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow, is the most common cancer that starts in bone, and is mostly seen in people aged 50 to 70 (AAOS, n.d.).

Bone Tumor Anatomy

To gain a better understanding of a bone tumor, it helps to understand bone anatomy. The skeleton is a living structure that supports the entire body. Bones are made of an outer shell of dense bone surrounding a honeycomb structure of softer bone.

Two sections make up the human skeleton (National Cancer Institute, n.d.)

Axial skeleton – The axial skeleton has 80 bones in total, including the skull, spine and chest.
Appendicular skeleton – This skeleton has 126 bones, including the limbs, hands and feet, and the shoulder and pelvic girdles that attach them.

How to Know if You Have a Bone Tumour?

Many benign bone tumors cause no symptoms at all and are found by chance on an X-ray taken for another reason; some people notice a painless lump (AAOS, n.d.). When a bone tumor does cause symptoms, the most common is pain in the area, usually a dull ache that can be present at rest and may be worse with activity. Pain at night or when you are resting is a concern and should be checked by a doctor (AAOS, n.d.). Bone tumors are not caused by injury, but an injury can make an existing tumor start to hurt (AAOS, n.d.).

See your family doctor or nurse practitioner if you have (NHS, 2025a)

pain or tenderness in a bone, particularly if it is worse at night
a lump or swelling, or weight loss you can't explain
pain in your bones or joints that is making it difficult to move around

Other symptoms can include feeling very tired, a high temperature (fever) and sweating (NHS, 2025a; AAOS, n.d.). You might not have a bone tumour, but it is important to get your symptoms checked, because finding bone cancer early can make it easier to treat (NHS, 2025a).

Not a diagnosis — for more information, contact me or another trusted healthcare provider.

Treatment

Self-Care & Treatment

How Your Bone Tumor May Be Treated

Treatment depends on the type of tumor, which bone is involved and whether it is benign or malignant, and is planned by your medical team (AAOS, n.d.; NHS, 2025b).

1. Benign Tumors

Many benign tumors need only careful monitoring, with follow-up X-rays to check for changes. Some can be treated with medication, some disappear or fill in with bone over time, and some need surgery to remove them, especially if they are painful or weakening the bone (AAOS, n.d.).

2. Malignant Tumors

Bone cancer is treated by a team of specialists, often using a combination of the treatments listed below (AAOS, n.d.; NHS, 2025b).

Treatments you may want to discuss with your family doctor, nurse practitioner or medical team

Options outside my scope

Surgery: removing the tumor along with some of the healthy tissue around it is one of the main treatments for cancer that starts in bone (AAOS, n.d.; NHS, 2025b).
Limb salvage (limb-sparing) surgery: removes the cancerous section of bone and any muscles or tendons involved with the tumor, keeping nerves and blood vessels where possible, and replaces the bone with a metal implant (prosthesis), bone from elsewhere in your body, or donor bone (AAOS, n.d.; NHS, 2025b).
Amputation: removal of all or part of an arm or leg, usually only when the tumor involves the nerves and blood vessels, or so much of the surrounding muscle that the limb would not work well; a prosthetic limb can help afterwards (AAOS, n.d.).
Chemotherapy: medicines that kill cancer cells, including cells that may have spread into the bloodstream but are too small to show on scans; it is often used together with surgery (AAOS, n.d.; NHS, 2025b).
Radiation therapy (radiotherapy): high-dose X-rays that kill cancer cells and shrink tumors in the area treated; only a few bone cancers, such as Ewing sarcoma, respond well to it, and it is otherwise used when a tumor cannot be safely or fully removed with surgery (AAOS, n.d.; NHS, 2025b).

How I can help (see the My Approach tab)

Gentle massage for comfort and relaxation, with your team's okay
Easing tension, swelling and stiffness, and scar work after surgery
Gradual strengthening as part of your recovery

Tips

After treatment, you will have regular follow-up visits, X-rays and scans to check that the tumor has gone and has not come back (AAOS, n.d.; NHS, 2025b).
Keep going to your follow-up appointments even when you feel well. Tumors that come back can cause serious problems, so it is important to find them early (AAOS, n.d.).
If you have symptoms or side effects that worry you, talk to your specialist team; you do not need to wait for your next check-up (NHS, 2025b).
After limb-sparing surgery, a metal implant (prosthesis) is a standard way of replacing the bone that was removed, and physiotherapy helps you regain your mobility (AAOS, n.d.; NHS, 2025b). Once your surgical team has cleared you, I can support this with hands-on work and exercise. See the My Approach tab for how I work.
Clinical research trials might be available that offer new treatments; ask your specialist team.

Treatment

My Approach

Massage doesn't treat a bone tumour, but it can help you feel better during and after treatment, and ease stiffness and swelling after surgery. Your medical team leads your care and I work inside the limits they set. During active cancer treatment, or after surgery, I need your oncology or surgical team's okay before we start any hands-on treatment, and with your written consent I can contact them.

Please bring any X-ray or scan reports and notes from your medical team to your first visit. They're an important part of planning safe treatment for you.

Because a tumour can weaken the bone, I keep pressure light over and around the affected area and don't mobilise nearby joints unless your team says it's safe.

During Treatment

Gentle, relaxing massage and breathing, kept shorter when you're tired or feeling sick
Easing areas that tighten from pain, crutches or changed posture
Avoiding recent surgical areas and skin being treated with radiotherapy

After Surgery

Gentle lymphatic drainage for swelling, with your team's okay, and scar work once healed
Hands-on work and exercise for stiffness, within your cleared range
Gradual strengthening alongside your physiotherapy, including if you're learning to use a prosthetic limb

Report new or worsening bone pain, a new lump or unexplained weight loss to your specialist team.

What to Expect

Typical Course

Typical course: During treatment, visits usually fit around your appointments and are kept short. After surgery, visits are usually once or twice a week early on, then weekly, then spaced out, with a reassessment along the way. Recovery after bone surgery often takes 6 to 12 months, following your medical team's plan.

What I Focus On

Working Within Your Team's Limits

Comfort & Relaxation

Light Pressure Near Weak Bone

Swelling & Scar Care

Gradual Strength

Sources

References

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) (n.d.) Bone tumor. OrthoInfo. Available at: https://www.orthoinfo.org/en/diseases--conditions/bone-tumor/ (Accessed: 7 October 2026).
NHS (2025a) Symptoms of bone cancer. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bone-cancer/symptoms/ (Accessed: 7 October 2026).
NHS (2025b) Treatment for bone cancer. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bone-cancer/treatment/ (Accessed: 7 October 2026).
National Cancer Institute (n.d.) Divisions of the skeleton. SEER Training Modules. Available at: https://training.seer.cancer.gov/anatomy/skeletal/divisions/ (Accessed: 7 October 2026).

Massage therapy · Kitchener–WaterlooBone Tumor

What It Is

Bone Tumor Anatomy

How to Know if You Have a Bone Tumour?

Self-Care & Treatment

How Your Bone Tumor May Be Treated

1. Benign Tumors

2. Malignant Tumors

Treatments you may want to discuss with your family doctor, nurse practitioner or medical team

Tips

My Approach

During Treatment

After Surgery

Typical Course

References

Related Conditions

Book a session

Massage therapy · Kitchener–WaterlooBone Tumor

What It Is

Bone Tumor Anatomy

How to Know if You Have a Bone Tumour?

Self-Care & Treatment

How Your Bone Tumor May Be Treated

1. Benign Tumors

2. Malignant Tumors

Treatments you may want to discuss with your family doctor, nurse practitioner or medical team

Tips

My Approach

During Treatment

After Surgery

Typical Course

References

Related Conditions

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Anterior Wedge Fracture to the Vertebra

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Dermatomyositis

Book a session