Primary osteogenic sarcoma of the vertebral column: a clinicopathologic correlation of ten patients.

In a review of more than 1000 patients with osteogenic sarcoma of bone, the vertebral column was the site of the primary tumor in 10 patients. The vertebral osteogenic sarcoma in 4 of the 10 patients was secondary; to Paget's disease of bone in 3, and to irradiation received for a prior cancer in 1. Frequently, cord compression caused severe neurologic symptoms. Prognosis was always poor. Seven patients died of their disease within a year of histologic diagnosis. The differential diagnoses between osteogenic sarcoma and three benign tumors are reviewed, osteoblastoma being the tumor most frequently confused with osteogenic sarcoma. The radiologic and histologic criteria for distinguishing between the two are discussed.