Primary & secondary bone tumours

Question 1

describe what sarcoma means

Answer 1

malignant lesion of soft tissue, can be bone or soft tissue

Question 2

what do the terms osteo and chondro refer to

Answer 2

osteo = bone
chondro = cartilage

Question 3

what are the 3 different classifications of bone tumours

Answer 3

bone-forming, cartilage-forming and others

Question 4

what prefix is used for bone-forming tumours

Answer 4

osteo

Question 5

what prefix is used for naming cartilage-forming tumours

Answer 5

chondro

Question 6

give some examples of tumours that fall in the other classification

Answer 6

Ewing’s sarcoma, Giant cell tumour

Question 7

what is the most common primary tumour of bone

Answer 7

multiple myeloma

Question 8

what are the 5 main secondary tumours that can spread to bone
(any primary tumour can spread to bone)*

Answer 8

breast, lung, prostate, kidney, thyroid

BLT with a Kosher Pickle

Question 9

give some examples of predisposing conditions to primary bone cancer

Answer 9

paget’s, fibrous dysplasia, multiple enchondromas

Question 10

what is the main cause of primary bone tumours

Answer 10

idiopathic

Question 11

what are some predisposing factors to primary bone tumours

Answer 11

previous radiotherapy, genetics

Question 12

what group of people do primary bone tumours tend to present in

Answer 12

young people age 10 to 30

Question 13

what are the clinical features of primary bone tumours, other than pain

Answer 13

swelling and erythema over joint, palpable mass, pathological fracture

Question 14

describe the pain seen in primary bone tumours

Answer 14

persistent, increasing pain, worse at night, usually not associated with movement

Question 15

what investigations can be used for bone tumours

Answer 15

CT, MRI, bone scan, plain radiographs(can be normal until later disease)

Question 16

give some examples of differential diagnosis of bone tumours

Answer 16

osteomyelitis, multiple myeloma, metabolic bone disease

Question 17

what neoadjuvant treatment is used for bone tumours

Answer 17

chemo and radiotherapy, hormone therapy

Question 18

what surgical treatment can be used for bone tumours

Answer 18

reconstruction or amputation

Question 19

what adjuvant treatment can be used for bone tumours

Answer 19

chemo or radiotherapy

Question 20

when is surgery used for bone metastases

Answer 20

used as palliative care despite prognosis

Question 21

what are the different things that you should look for when identifying a bone tumour (5)

Answer 21

location, neocortex, cortical involvement, zone of transition, matrix

Question 22

what is meant by the zone of transition and the matrix when looking at a bone radiograph

Answer 22

zone of transition = how wide or narrow distinction is from normal to abnormal bone
matrix = nature of lesion