ON THIS PAGE: You will find information about the estimated number of children and teens who will be diagnosed with osteosarcoma each year. You will also read general information on surviving the disease. Remember, survival rates depend on several factors, and no 2 people with cancer are the same. Use the menu to see other pages.

Every person is different, with different factors influencing their risk of being diagnosed with this cancer and the chance of recovery after a diagnosis. It is important to talk with your doctor about any questions you have around the general statistics provided below and what they may mean for your child individually. The original sources for these statistics are provided at the bottom of this page.

How many children and teens are diagnosed with osteosarcoma?

In 2023, an estimated 1,000 people of all ages in the United States will be diagnosed with osteosarcoma. About half of these cases will occur in children and teens.

Osteosarcoma makes up 2% of all cancers in children ages 0 to 14 and 3% of all cancers in teens ages 15 to 19. It is most often diagnosed between the ages of 10 and 30, with most of these diagnoses occurring in teens. However, osteosarcoma can be diagnosed at any age, including in older adults. Around 10% of osteosarcoma is diagnosed in people over age 60.

What is the survival rate for children and teens with osteosarcoma?

There are different types of statistics that can help doctors evaluate a person’s chance of recovery from osteosarcoma. These are called survival statistics. A specific type of survival statistic is called the relative survival rate. It is often used to predict how having cancer may affect life expectancy. Relative survival rate looks at how likely people with osteosarcoma are to survive for a certain amount of time after their initial diagnosis or start of treatment compared to the expected survival of similar people without this cancer.

Example: Here is an example to help explain what a relative survival rate means. Please note this is only an example and not specific to this type of cancer. Let’s assume that the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific type of cancer is 90%. “Percent” means how many out of 100. Imagine there are 1,000 people without cancer, and based on their age and other characteristics, you expect 900 of the 1,000 to be alive in 5 years. Also imagine there are another 1,000 people similar in age and other characteristics as the first 1,000, but they all have the specific type of cancer that has a 5-year survival rate of 90%. This means it is expected that 810 of the people with the specific cancer (90% of 900) will be alive in 5 years.

It is important to remember that statistics on the survival rates for children and teens with osteosarcoma are only an estimate. They cannot tell an individual person if cancer will or will not shorten their life. Instead, these statistics describe trends in groups of people previously diagnosed with the same disease, including specific stages of the disease.

The 5-year relative survival rate for children ages 0 to 14 with osteosarcoma is 69%. For teens ages 15 to 19, the 5-year relative survival rate is 67%.

The survival rates for osteosarcoma vary based on several factors. These include the stage of cancer, a person’s age and general health, and how well the treatment plan works. Other factors that can affect outcomes include the type and subtype of the cancer.

If osteosarcoma is diagnosed and treated before it has spread outside the area where it started, the 5-year relative survival rate for people of all ages is 76%. If the cancer has spread outside of the bones and into the regional lymph nodes, the 5-year relative survival rate is 64%. If the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, the 5-year relative survival rate is 24%.

Experts measure relative survival rate statistics for children and teens with osteosarcoma every 5 years. This means the estimate may not reflect the results of advancements in how osteosarcoma is diagnosed or treated from the last 5 years. Talk with your child’s doctor if you have any questions about this information. Learn more about understanding statistics.

Statistics adapted from the American Cancer Society website and Seigel R, et al.: Cancer Statistics 2023. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 2023 Jan; 73(1):17–48. doi/full/10.3322/caac.21763. (All sources accessed March 2023.)

The next section in this guide is Medical Illustrations. It offers a drawing of the body parts often affected by osteosarcoma. Use the menu to choose a different section to read in this guide.