24. Tumours and tumour-like lesions of bone and soft tissues

Many types of tumours occur in the skeleton and soft tissue. The tumours that develop in close relation to the skeleton are called primary bone tumours. Fortunately, the majority of these bone and soft tissue tumours are benign. If they are malignant, they are referred to as bone sarcoma. The biological behaviour of bone tumours, both benign and malignant, varies greatly, with tumour growths ranging from inactive or barely active to extremely active (tab. 24.1). This characterisation in general explains the clinical presentation. For example, in indolent, benign bone tumours there are seldom complaints, whereas in an aggressive benign bone tumour, complaints are to be expected. The diagram in tab. 24.2 shows a general classification and this already shows the great diversity. Officially, we distinguish > 168 forms of bone and soft tissue tumours.