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Cancer is defined as when there is an abnormal excessive development of any tissue. So does or may cancer affect the foot? Of course it will, as the foot has all the same tissues as other parts of the body. Cancer in the foot is really uncommon, however when it does occur it has the potential to be much more severe as it is often missed or wrongly diagnosed as a condition not so critical. There's two forms of cancer which could affect the foot. The first is where the cancer originates in the foot, so this could possibly be in the any tissue from the skin to the bone to joint or the tendons to the nerves or the blood vessels. Because the foot is a weight-bearing area of the body and has many things which could go wrong a very high index of suspicion is needed to identify one of these primary cancers from what could be considered a typical and common foot problem.

This is why the competence of a good skilled clinician is needed to take care of foot ailments and to exclude one of these more sometimes significant problems that are unusual. The other type of cancer that could affect the foot is a metastasis or a spread of the cancer from a different part of the body. This cancer might be already be clinically diagnosed and can spread to the foot where it produces pain in the foot. On the other hand the cancer may begin growing in another area of the body and it is un-diagnosed there and it sends a metastasis or propagates to the foot to cause pain in the foot. This is very uncommon however when it can occur it is extremely serious because it normally signifies that the first cancer is well established. It also poses a diagnostic dilemma for the clinician who is wanting to identify the reason behind the pain in the foot. Again, a very high index of suspicion and instinct is required by the clinician to pick this up in the first stages. The earlier that these forms of cancers are recognized the better the outcome may very well be.

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