Primary vascular tumours of bone: towards a new classification based on pathology and genetics

Abstract

Primary vascular tumors of bone are a heterogeneous group. Numerous terms have been introduced as well as different classification systems. However, so far none of them have been generally accepted.Therefor, there is a need for more specific morphological, immunohistochemical and molecular tools to support the classification of different vascular tumors of bone. In this thesis, we attempt to delineate the high-grade malignant vascular tumors of bone based on histomorphological criteria, protein expression profile based on a large panel of oncogenes, tumor-suppressor genes and signaling molecules, and molecular data. Moreover, we compared our dataset with a small groups of angiosarcoma of soft tissue in order to see whether these are truly different tumors or whether they should be regarded as one entity with a different localization. Finally, we question whether the rare vascular tumor previously designated as "haemangiopericytoma of bone" is a true entity or should rather be regarded as a growth pattern.