Cancellous bone has a cellular structure:​ it is made up of a connected network of rods and plates. Because of this, its mechanical behaviour is similar to that of other cellular materials such as polymeric foams. A recent study on the mechanisms of deformation in such materials had led to an understanding of how their mechanical properties depend on their relative density, cell wall properties and cell geometry. In this paper, the results of this previous study are applied to cancellous bone in an attempt to further understand its mechanical behaviour. The results of the analysis agree reasonably well with experimental data available in the literature.