STRATEGY FOR IDENTIFYING PRIMARY MALIGNANCIES WITH INAUGURAL BONE METASTASES

The diagnosis of primary tumors with inaugural bone metastases is a se rious and difficult problem commonly encountered in rheumatology, Help ful information can be derived from the radiologic appearance of the m etastases, history of the patient, clinical findings, chest film, stan dard laboratory tests, imaging studies, serum marker assays, and histo logic findings, Based on our personal experience and on previously pub lished data, we have developed a decision tree aimed at enhancing the efficacy of the diagnostic process while ensuring optimal patient comf ort and containing costs.