Evaluation of a patient for pedal neoplasia. Basic principles and procedures

The process of determining a diagnosis for a patient with a tumor mass is not easy. It demands astuteness on the part of the attending doctor as well as cooperative consultation and teamwork with radiologists, pathologists, and other specialists. It also demands a basic understanding of the characteristics of benign and malignant tumors in the foot, whether primary or metastatic. This is best accomplished by continued reading of a variety of journals and current texts as well as by attendance at clinical conferences. Concern for the patient must motivate any practitioner to know, understand, and undertake definitive diagnostic procedures to determine the nature and extent of a neoplasm. The practitioner must acquire and maintain an appropriately high index of suspicion and an awareness that the foot can be the site of a primary or metastatic tumor.