GIANT-CELL TUMOUR OF BONE

An Analysis of Fifty-two Cases

¹ Bristol Bone Tumour Registry, Bristol, England, Pymble, New South Wales, Australia

1. Fifty-five giant-cell tumours of bone are described in fifty-two patients of whom thirty-five were women. The highest incidence was in the third and fourth decades.

2. The tumours were characteristic radiologically: they all occurred in skeletally mature patients, and chiefly in the expanded extremities of long bones.

3. Histological grading was not done, the tumours being designated typical or malignant.

4. Curettage and graft, resection, radiotherapy and amputation were the basic forms of treatment. Amputation has an occasional place in primary treatment and radiotherapy should be confined to tumours in surgically inaccessible sites.

5. Resection is the method of choice for tumours in suitable sites, such as the upper end of the fibula ; careful curettage and grafting should be used to preserve the function of a large joint.

6. Recurrences within two years should be treated by limited resection without preliminary biopsy. Late recurrences must have a biopsy taken to establish the diagnosis before planning treatment.