Bone Tumours

These are either:

• primary or secondary
• benign or malignant

Secondary bone tumours are much more common than primary bone tumours

Secondary bone tumours

The tumours which most commonly metastasise to bone (i.e. the primary tumours) are:

1. BREAST
2. BRONCHUS
3. THYROID
4. RENAL
5. PROSTATE
6. BOWEL

Location:
Metastases are found in the axial skeleton – spine, pelvis, ribs, long bones

Presentation:
in all cases the primary tumour may or may not be known

• Bone pain – night pain common +/- constitutional symptoms (weight loss, fatigue)
• Pathological fracture – tumour cells weaken bone by activating osteoclasts
• Spinal cord compression – pressure of tumour on nerve roots causing leg weakness
• Incidental – raised alkaline phosphatase on routine blood tests or osteolytic lesion on x-ray taken for another reason 

Investigations: