bone, joint, and muscle disorders
Overview of Bone Tumors
Diagnosis of Bone Tumors
X-rays Often magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and sometimes computed tomography (CT) or positron emission tomography with CT (PET-CT) Sometimes bone scan Biopsy When people have a joint or limb that is always painful, even when they are not using it, doctors typically do X-rays . X-rays can show doctors that the bone has an abnormal appearance or can show a growth or a hole in the bone. Although doctors can see such abnormalities on x-rays, they usually cannot tell whether a tumor is noncancerous or cancerous. However, some tumors can be identified as noncancerous by an x-ray. For example, this identification is often possible with If an x-ray does not give doctors enough information, Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (CT) and Doctors may do Bone scanning to identify the locations of many tumors at one time because bone scans show the entire skeleton. Doctors may also do Positron Emission Tomography (PET) (PET or PET scan) , usually as PET combined with CT scanning ( If cancer is a reasonable possibility, a biopsy is usually necessary for diagnosis. Three types of biopsies may be done depending on the tumor: Aspiration biopsy Core biopsy Open biopsy Many tumors can be biopsied. In anaspiration biopsy,doctors insert a needle into the tumor and withdraw some cells. No incision is needed. However, because the needle used is very small, sometimes normal cells may be sampled and cancer cells are missed, even when cancer cells are lying right beside the normal cells. Acore biopsyis done with a larger needle and often done so that more cells can be withdrawn and examined. Because both aspiration and core biopsies are done by using needles, they are considered needle biopsies. Needle biopsies are often done with ultrasound guidance or radiographic imaging (fluoroscopy or CT) to increase accuracy. Anopen biopsyis a surgical procedure. Sometimes an open biopsy is done when more tissue is needed for the doctor to make an adequate diagnosis. In this procedure, a surgeon cuts through the skin and into the deeper tissues to obtain an adequate sample for diagnosis. This procedure can sometimes be done at the same time that surgery is done to treat the tumor. If a portion of the tumor is removed, the procedure is called an incisional biopsy; if the entire tumor is removed, it is called an excisional biopsy. 