Giant Cell Tumor and the Psychological Effect on Patient’s Health: Literature Review

Abstract

The giant cell tumor continues to be one of the bone tumors with many controversies in its diagnosis and management by doctors, it is benign, it mainly affects the epiphyses of the long bones. It occurs with a higher percentage in young adults, between 20 and 40 years old, although its origin is uncertain. It has a purely lytic and generally aggressive appearance, which destroys the bone and can even cause its fracture, sometimes invades the soft tissues, so magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography are important to determine the extent of the tumor, for On the other hand, simple radiological examinations are often very useful in suggesting the diagnosis. The differential diagnosis mainly includes lesions that affect the epiphyseal regions of the bones, such as chondroblastoma and clear cell chondrosarcoma. The treatment of giant cell tumors is mainly surgical, which consists of an extensive scraping with direct vision through a wide bone window, said scraping is more effective with the use of substances, such as phenol or liquid nitrogen, with the in order to sterilize the tumor bed and reduce the risk of local recurrence, since even with modern scrapings the risk of recurrence is significant.

Objective: to  carry out a bibliographic review on concepts and classifications that allow an early and effective diagnosis of this type of tumor, which will allow an adequate treatment to be given, thus improving the quality of life of patients suffering from this disease, reducing its complications.

Conclusions: It can be established that, in most patients, the tumors are benign and are usually located in the epiphysis of long bones with a tendency to produce local recurrences.