ABSTRACT
Metastatic carcinoma to bone occurs far more commonly than a skeletal sarcoma which arises in bone. Skeletal sarcomas originate in the bone and are termed primary cancers of the bone, while metastatic carcinomas to bone are defined as secondary malignancies of bone. Secondary cancers of bone are at least 100-fold more common than primary tumors of bone especially when the individual is over 40 years of age. Consideration of the incidences of prostate, breast, lung, and colorectal carcinomas, metastatic cancer to bone should be the primary consideration when evaluating a potential bone tumor irrespective of age 1 .
