[Tumors of the hand -- results of a long-term study]

This is a report of a long-term study at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany from 1936 to 1994. We divided tumors into three categories, i.e. skin, soft tissue and bone tumors. 4612 tumors were included in the study. Over the course of the study, a dramatic change in the occurrence of single tumors was noticed. While tumor-like lesions have been on the decline, other types of tumors, especially malignant tumors as well as more advanced stages of tumors have become a common occurrence. We will show that particularly larger institutions experience an ever increasing number of advanced tumors requiring individual approaches.