Patient-friendly articles on bone tumor symptoms, benign and malignant tumors, biopsy planning, metastatic bone disease, and limb-salvage decision-making.
Orthopedic oncology focuses on diagnosing and treating benign and malignant bone and soft-tissue tumors. When a lesion is suspicious, imaging and staging should usually be completed before a planned biopsy, because biopsy placement or an unplanned excision can affect later tumor surgery, limb-salvage options, and reconstruction.
Reviewed and updated: 25 September 2026
Clinical guidance references: ESMO–EURACAN bone sarcoma guideline and ESMO–EURACAN–GENTURIS soft-tissue sarcoma guideline.
Do not rush into an unplanned biopsy or removal of a suspicious bone or soft-tissue mass. The biopsy route should be selected with the definitive surgical approach in mind, and appropriate imaging—often MRI for local extent—should generally be obtained before biopsy when clinically indicated. If malignancy is possible, specialist biopsy planning before intervention can reduce avoidable sequencing problems.
Showing 40 articles
This page groups patient-education articles in this category only; the Case Library and Professional Education remain separate sections.
How solitary plasmacytoma differs from multiple myeloma, why staging and separate biopsies matter, and when fracture stabilization or neural decompression may be needed.
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How a rare epiphyseal bone tumor can mimic a sports injury, what X-ray/CT/MRI show, and when curettage or selected RFA may be considered.
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Osteochondroma is a benign cartilage-capped bone outgrowth. Learn HME genetics, X-ray continuity, MRI cartilage-cap warning signs and when observation or surgery is appropriate.
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How ABC is diagnosed, why fluid-fluid levels are not specific, when planned biopsy is needed, and how sclerotherapy, curettage or embolization may be selected.
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A general guide to osteoblastoma in the spine and extremities, planned biopsy, image-guided treatment, surgery and recurrence follow-up.
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Why osteoid osteoma causes night pain, how thin-slice CT shows the nidus, and when observation, RFA or surgery may be considered.
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X-rays and MRI answer different questions about bone tumors. Learn what each scan shows, when CT helps, and why imaging should usually come before biopsy.
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Learn what a bone tumor pathology report means: benign vs malignant, tumor grade, IHC, molecular tests, margins, and what to do if MRI and biopsy disagree.
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Not every bone lesion needs biopsy. Learn when imaging may be enough, when tissue diagnosis is required, and why bone tumor biopsy must be carefully planned.
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An incidental bone lesion is often benign, but some need MRI, follow-up or biopsy. Learn the warning signs and how specialists decide what comes next.
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Learn what a non-ossifying fibroma is, how NOF appears on X-rays, when observation is enough, fracture risk, follow-up and when surgery may be needed.
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What a simple or unicameral bone cyst is, how fracture risk is assessed, and when observation, injection, decompression, curettage or fixation may be considered.
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How enchondroma is assessed on X-rays, when observation is appropriate, warning features, selective biopsy and when surgery may be considered.
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How fibrous dysplasia is diagnosed, when biopsy is needed, and how fracture, deformity and mechanical risk influence treatment.
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Understand Enneking/MSTS and AJCC staging, the difference between grade and stage, and why pathology and full staging matter.
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When repeat extended curettage may still preserve the native joint, and when wider resection or reconstruction becomes necessary.
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Why a tumor megaprosthesis may need revision, how failure is assessed, and how surgeons plan component preservation, bone stock and reconstruction.
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Why a tumor megaprosthesis may loosen without infection, how serial imaging helps, and when revision may be considered.
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How infection around a tumor megaprosthesis is diagnosed and when DAIR, component exchange or staged revision may be considered.
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Why proximal tibial tumor reconstruction often requires patellar-tendon and extensor-mechanism repair, soft-tissue coverage and staged rehabilitation.
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When distal femoral replacement is used after bone tumor resection, how surgery and rehabilitation proceed, and which long-term risks need surveillance.
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Diagnosis, MRI and CT, planned biopsy, internal hemipelvectomy, limb salvage and pelvic reconstruction options.
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Core needle versus open biopsy, MRI-before-biopsy planning, safe tract selection, pathology correlation and common mistakes to avoid.
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Diagnosis, MRI and biopsy planning, joint preservation, limb salvage and megaprosthetic reconstruction around the knee.
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Warning signs, MRI-before-biopsy planning, pathology, staging, wide excision, limb salvage and multidisciplinary treatment.
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How Ewing sarcoma is diagnosed and staged, why chemotherapy is central, and how surgery or radiotherapy may be selected for local control.
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Diagnosis, biopsy planning, staging, chemotherapy, limb-salvage surgery, reconstruction and long-term follow-up.
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How GCTB is diagnosed, when extended curettage may preserve the native joint, why recurrence occurs, and when wider resection is considered.
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What should happen after a mass is removed and pathology unexpectedly reports soft-tissue sarcoma: reassessment, MRI, staging and planned definitive treatment.
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How fracture risk is assessed, why Mirels is only one part of the decision, and when preventive stabilization may be considered.
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How megaprostheses reconstruct the limb after major bone tumor resection, including recovery, function, complications, revision surgery, and long-term surveillance.
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What recurrence means, how it is confirmed, why restaging matters, and when repeat limb salvage or second opinion may be appropriate.
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Symptoms, imaging, biopsy planning, tumor grade, surgery, limb salvage, recurrence, and when specialist review is needed.
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How bone tumors may be removed while preserving the arm or leg, including biopsy planning, wide resection, reconstruction, risks and second opinion timing.
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Symptoms, MRI mapping and how disease distribution guides arthroscopic, open or combined synovectomy.
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How a deep infrascapular lump can cause pain or clicking, how MRI supports diagnosis, and when treatment may be needed.
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When night bone pain needs assessment, what warning signs matter, and how X-rays or MRI may guide diagnosis.
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Persistent or progressive bone pain, night pain, swelling, reduced movement, or a fracture after minor trauma may need orthopedic oncology assessment.
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Benign and malignant bone tumors differ in behavior, imaging features, spread, and treatment; accurate diagnosis may require a planned biopsy.
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Understand how pain, fracture risk, radiotherapy, systemic treatment, and surgery are coordinated in metastatic bone disease.
Read article →Editorial approach: Articles are written for patient education, medically reviewed, and kept separate from the anonymized Case Library. They do not replace individual clinical assessment.
