Abstract
Background: Bone tumors encompass a catholic spectrum of skeletal neoplasms that vary significantly in clinical performance, histopathological features, and treatment requirements. Comprehensive demographic and clinical data on patients with bone tumors from tertiary care centers in Pakistan remain inadequate.
Objective: To evaluate the demographic, clinical profile, tumor characteristics, treatment patterns, and diagnostic imaging characteristics of bone tumor patients managed at a radiation oncology department in Lahore, Pakistan.
Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study of 123 bone tumor patients managed at the Department of Radiation Oncology, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore from January 2018 to May 2023. Data were obtained from hospital records. Diagnostic performance of available imaging modalities was documented descriptively.
Results: Of 123 patients, 55.3% were female and 44.7% male. The most affected age group was 41-50 years (27.6%). Secondary tumors predominated (63.4%); among these, CA breast/spine metastases (23.1%) and Ewing sarcoma (16.7%) were most common. Among primary tumors (36.6%), spine tumors (31.1%) and osteoblastoma (15.6%) were most frequent. Lytic lesions were the predominant bone lesion pattern (35.0%). MRI (n=72) showed the highest documented sensitivity (66.0%) and accuracy (61.1%) within its evaluated subset. Patient age (p=0.010) and year of presentation (p=0.003) were significantly associated with tumor occurrence.
Conclusion: Secondary bone tumors predominated in this radiation oncology cohort. Among the available imaging modalities, MRI demonstrated the most favorable performance within its patient subset. These findings add to the growing body of Pakistani bone tumor epidemiological literature and highlight the need for prospective multi-center studies with standardized diagnostic protocols.