Giant cell tumor of bone: General Information

also called Osteoclastoma

Giant cell tumor of the bone is a relatively uncommon tumor.  This type of primary bone tumor has benign and malignant forms. The benign (non-cancerous) form is most common. These tumors typically affect the leg (usually, near the knees) or arm bones of young and middle-aged adults. Fewer than 10% of giant cell bone tumors are initially cancerous and spread to other parts of the body.  It generally occurs in adults aged 20 to 40. GCT is very rarely seen in children or in adults over age 65.

When giant cell bone tumors recur, they become more likely to spread to other parts of the body, especially if they recur several times.

It is characterized by the presence of multinucleated giant cells (osteoclast-like cells). These tumors are generally benign. In most patients, the tumors are slow to develop, but may recur locally in as many as 50% of cases.

Treatment Options

• Surgery has proven to be the most effective treatment for giant cell tumors.  
• Radiation therapy is a non-surgical treatment option that has proven effective. However, this can result in the formation of cancer in as many as 15 percent of patients who receive it. Therefore, radiation therapy is used only in the most difficult cases where surgery cannot be performed safely or effectively.  
• Some centers have reported successful treatment of giant cell tumors with embolization, a process where the blood vessels supplying the tumor are occluded by means of a catheter threaded through the main arteries. Blocking the blood supply to the tumor can cause it to shrink and even disappear because the tumor loses its source of nutrition.

Source:  Your Cancer Today

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