Symptoms of Bone Cancer in the Hip

Hip bone cancer is caused by malignant growth of a tumor. Cancers developing in the bone, called primary bone cancers, are not common, and they number less than 1 percent of all cancers. This statistic is from the National Cancer Institute, USA. In the country, doctors diagnose close to 2,300 new cases of primary bone cancers every year.

Some of the symptoms of bone cancer in the hip are:

• Pain – This is one of the most common symptoms of any cancer. In case of bone cancer of the hip, patients are likely to face persistent pain or sporadically, when the patient performs activities that involve the hips’ movement. The pain in all of these patients is not the same and there are some who do not report pain at all.
• Weakening of bones – Cancerous development in the bones would surely weaken it. The invading cancer cells weaken the pelvic area first. The bones can fracture or break too in some cases. In elderly people or those who are very weak, even a slight injury can cause the bones to break.
• Swelling – Lumps occurring on the upper thigh or on the hip are signs of bone cancer. Swelling is quite often accompanied by pain and the bone cancer patients can actually feel the painful lumps. Any movement that touches the lumps slightly makes them feel the lumps and also pains a lot.
• Fatigue – This is one of the more common symptoms associated with many forms of cancer. The patients feel tired unexpectedly. However, this is not a symptom you should consider for suspecting bone cancer, as it can be caused by other complications too.

Some other symptoms of bone cancer in the hip which you should not ignore are fever, night sweats, general lack of energy, difficulty in walking normally and tendency to stumble are some of the symptoms of bone cancer in the hip you should not ignore. The persistent or periodic pain mentioned above is the most tell-tale sign of bone cancer of the hip, other than of course, if you find that your bones have weakened for apparently no reason.