Giant cell tumor of bone with pulmonary and lymph node metastases. A case report

A giant cell tumor of bone appeared in a lymph node of a 21-year-old man at the time of local recurrence in its original location in the distal femur, prior to metastasizing the lung. Following a wide resection, the lesion did not recur, but asymptomatic pulmonary metastases were discovered. DNA analysis by flow cytometry demonstrated identical patterns in the primary and initial recurring lesions, as well as in the pulmonary metastases, which suggests that this technique may be a valuable diagnostic tool for assessing the potential aggressiveness of giant cell tumor of bone. Giant cell tumor of bone is rarely associated with metastases of any kind. Rare instances of pulmonary spread have been reported in the literature. Lymph node involvement is even more unusual. Only two such cases have been previously reported.