[Basic diagnostics of bone tumors].

Primary bone tumors and tumorlike lesions are rare. However, they are found on x-ray incidentally or during examination of a painful skeletal region. This article explains how to diagnose such a detected lesion. Primarily, the growth rate is analyzed according to the Lodwick classification to differentiate a benign from a malignant lesion. With that, the lesser experienced clinician has solved the most important task in the diagnostic process. Further steps include analysis of the tumor matrix and the location within the tumor-bearing bone to make a specific diagnosis. Finally, the patient's age is included as a further parameter. With an optimized combination of the different parameters, the expert achieves a correct specific diagnosis in about 80% of cases.