Giant Cell Tumor in Tarsal Midfoot Bones: A Case Report

Diffuse tenosynovial giant cell tumor (D-TGCT), previously known as pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS), is a benign, aggressive, and distracting proliferative synovial lesion. D-TGCT is commonly seen in large joints such as the knee and hip. We present the case of a 57-year-old female who initially presented with swelling on the left midfoot that increased over four years. Clinically, a ganglion was suspected on the left midfoot and an MRI showed a heterogeneous lobulated soft tissue mass on the superior aspect of the tarsal midfoot measuring 5.8 x 2.4 x 4.2 cm. The mass causing remodeling and bony erosion was more appreciated at the medial aspect of the talus bone and extended to the sinus tarsi and talocalcaneal joint space. Surgical excision of the mass was performed, and pathology reports found lobulated soft tissue lesions composed of mononuclear cells, multinucleated giant cells, sheets of foamy macrophages, inflammatory cells, and hemosiderin-laden macrophages. This case represents D-TGCT without atypia or malignancy based on the findings.

A Rare Case of Giant Cell Tumour of Tendon Sheath and Its Arthroscopic In Toto Excision

The aim of this study is to bring attention to a unique occurrence in an uncommon location and to describe our approach to treatment in this context. We describe a case of a 36-year-old male who presented with complaints of pain in his left knee for three months, with a restricted range of motion, without a prior history of trauma. A thorough knee examination was performed, which was unremarkable except for a restricted range of motion and tenderness along the medial joint line. A plain radiograph of the knee revealed no bony injury. MRI was done to assess the extension and it confirmed a soft tissue mass beneath the patella. The patient was taken up for surgery after a pre-anesthetic checkup and the mass was removed arthroscopically in toto using a higher accessory antero-medial portal. The mass was removed with the help of a spatula without damaging it and sent for histopathological analysis. Histopathology confirmed that it was a giant cell tumour of the tendon sheath. The procedure was uneventful, and the patient achieved a full range of motion post-operatively.

Postoperative Fracture Risk in Giant Cell Tumor: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Giant cell tumor (GCT) of the proximal femur poses various challenges in its management and recurrence. We present a rare case of GCT of proximal femur in which recurrence and coxa vara deformity were encountered after index surgery. Management of the recurrence was done with intramedullary fixation with extended curettage and bone grafting. Different aspects of management such as the role of defect size, adjuvants, bone cement/bone graft, implants, and bisphosphonates have been highlighted in this article.

An Unusual Presentation of Giant Cell Tumour of Bone in the Talus: A Case Report and Literature Review

Giant cell tumours (GCTs) of the bone often arise in the long bones while occurrence in smaller bones of the hand and feet is very rare. We report a case of GCT in the talus of a 17-year-old male who presented with a six-month history of worsening pain in his left ankle and loss of function, reducing his ability to walk and participate in sports. Radiographs of the ankle showed bony overgrowth on the head and neck of the talus with cortical breaching. MRI revealed possible extension into soft tissue and bone marrow oedema. CT scan also revealed an aggressive lytic lesion at the head and neck of the talus. He was managed with intralesional curettage and autologous bone grafting with bone harvested from the left knee. There was no evidence of recurrence at the six-month follow-up and the patient was able to walk freely. In conclusion, GCTs of the talus tend to occur in younger and healthier patients and have disastrous consequences if they persist, recur, or metastasize. Given the severe negative impact that GCTs have on a patient's quality of life, they must be ruled out when investigating any ankle pain or reduced mobility. Current treatment options have produced consistently positive results while novel therapies that enable a faster return to weight bearing and reduce recurrence appear promising.

A Rare Giant Cell Tumour in the Distal Radius of a Seven-Year-Old Girl: A Case Report

A giant cell tumour (GCT) is a benign and locally aggressive tumour that is usually observable in a skeletally mature patient involving the end of long bones. The reported incidence of this tumour in a skeletally immature patient is extremely rare. However, we report one such case in the distal radius of a seven-year-old female patient. Having presented with painful swelling of the right distal forearm, she underwent clinical and radiological examination, and a diagnosis of distal radius GCT was made. The tumour was treated with curettage, fibular graft, and synthetic bone graft. This case report shows the importance of including GCT in children as a differential diagnosis. This tumour may have a good prognosis if diagnosed and treated early.

Unresectable Clival Giant Cell Tumor, Tumor Control With Denosumab After Relapse: A Case Report and Systematic Review of the Literature

Giant cell tumors (GCTs) of the skull base are rare entities. Although considered histologically benign, GCTs are locally aggressive with a high rate of local recurrence. The present case describes a 14-year-old girl with a clival GCT who underwent long-term therapy with denosumab after local relapse. To our knowledge, it is the second case described with a follow-up term >2 years from the start of denosumab and who did not receive any other adjuvant treatment besides denosumab. The patient achieved a local control of the disease. According to the few available data, radical excision with adjuvant therapy helps in long-term control in uncommon sites, such as the skull. However, the definitive treatment is still controversial because of their rarity and few follow-up data. The present case highlights the benefit of denosumab and its safety as long-term therapy and contributes to the existing literature with analysis and evaluation of the management strategies and prognosis.

Recurrent Unresectable Malignant Granular Cell Tumor With Response to Pazopanib

Malignant granular cell tumors (MGCTs) are rare and aggressive variants of granular cell tumors. They usually involve the head and neck region, skin and soft tissues. There are no standard therapeutic guidelines for management; however, surgical resection, whenever feasible, is considered to be first line. We report a patient with recurrent unresectable MGCT of lower lip who responded to pazopanib monotherapy. This drug has been recently approved for the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcomas. It is a potent oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor and acts on multiple receptors, including vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), c-kit, platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) and fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR). Due to the overexpression of multiple genes by the tumor and multiple targets of this drug, it is difficult to establish the mechanism of action responsible for disease response. 

Giant Cell Tumor of the Calcaneus

A 17-year-old female presented to us with pain and swelling in the right heel. Examination revealed the swelling to be tender, hard and fixed to the calcaneus. Radiographs showed an expansile, lytic lesion of the calcaneus with well-defined margins and no extraosseus spread. A core biopsy was done which showed multinucleated giant cells in a sea of mononuclear stromal cells, suggestive of a giant cell tumour (GCT). Curettage and filling up of the defect with bone cement was done under anaesthesia. The patient was fully ambulatory three months after the surgery. At two-year follow-up, the patient continued to be asymptomatic and radiographs revealed no signs of recurrence. It is important to note that GCT can occur in these rare sites and unusual age groups, and hence requires a good level of awareness of the surgeon and adequate preoperative workup, including biopsy, before proceeding to the definitive treatment of the lesion. Considering its potential local aggressiveness, early intervention is necessary. The patient should be kept under regular follow-up to detect any recurrence or metastasis in early stage.

Plasma metabolite profiling reveals potential biomarkers of giant cell tumor of bone by using NMR-based metabolic profiles: A cross-sectional study

Giant cell tumor (GCT) of bone is a locally aggressive bone tumor, which accounts for 4% to 5% of all primary bone tumors. At present, the early diagnosis and postoperative recurrence monitoring are still more difficult due to the lack of effective biomarkers in GCT. As an effective tool, metabolomics has played an essential role in the biomarkers research of many tumors. However, there has been no related study of the metabolomics of GCT up to now. The purpose of this study was to identify several key metabolites as potential biomarkers for GCT by using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolic profiles.Patients with GCT in our hospital were recruited in this study and their plasma was collected as the research sample, and plasma collected from healthy subjects was considered as the control. NMR was then utilized to detect all samples. Furthermore, based on correlation coefficients, variable importance for the projection values and P values of metabolites obtained from multidimensional statistical analysis, the most critical metabolites were selected as potential biomarkers of GCT. Finally, relevant metabolic pathways involved in these potential biomarkers were determined by database retrieval, based on which the metabolic pathways were plotted.Finally, 28 GCT patients and 26 healthy volunteers agreed to participate in the study. In the multidimensional statistical analysis, all results showed that there was obvious difference between the GCT group and the control group. Ultimately, 18 metabolites with significant differences met the selection condition, which were identified as potential biomarkers. Through Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Human Metabolome Database (HMD) database searching and literature review, these metabolites were found to be mainly correlated with glucose metabolism, fat metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and intestinal microbial metabolism. These metabolic disorders might, in turn, reflect important pathological processes such as proliferation and migration of tumor cells and immune escape in GCT.Our work showed that these potential biomarkers identified appeared to have early diagnostic and relapse monitoring values for GCT, which deserve to be further investigated. In addition, it also suggested that metabolomics profiling approach is a promising screening tool for the diagnosis and relapse monitoring of GCT patients.

Rare site giant cell tumors: report of two cases on phalanges of the finger and review of literature

Giant cell tumor (GCT) of bone arising from a phalanx of a finger is extremely rare. We report two cases of GCT arising from a phalanx of a finger. One case presented with recurrence following the amputation of the left ring finger (performed elsewhere). He was treated successfully with ray amputation. The other case was treated primarily by intralesional curettage and autogenous bone graft. At their most recent follow-ups (80 and 24 months, respectively), both were recurrence free and had returned to their previous occupational and recreational activities.