[Benign bone tumors. General principles]

Benign bone tumors and tumor-like lesions are much more frequent than malignant bone tumors among the total number of tumors of the skeleton.

This article gives a presentation of the characteristics and treatment modalities of benign bone tumors.

In this article in-house treatment principles are compared with those in the currently available literature.

Benign bone tumors are frequently found incidentally; however, the term benign does not always signify that a purely observational role is needed. Benign bone tumors differ in their biological behavior and can be latent, active or aggressive which determines the treatment approach. Some benign bone tumors are just as aggressive locally as malignant tumors. The most important diagnostic feature is still conventional radiography and a thorough systematic analysis is necessary. Therapy options range from ignore, wait and see up to wide resection. In contrast to malignant tumors the radicalism of resection can be weighed against the accompanying local control and loss of function.

The treatment of benign bone tumors depends on the histological type and the biological activity. Most benign bone tumors are diagnosed incidentally and do not necessitate any treatment.