Causes

It's not clear what causes chondrosarcoma. Doctors know that cancer begins when a cell develops changes (mutations) in its DNA. A cell's DNA contains the instructions that tell it what to do. The instructions tell the cell to multiply quickly and to continue living when healthy cells would die. The accumulating cells form a tumor that can grow to invade and destroy normal body tissue. In time, cells can break away and spread (metastasize) to other areas of the body.