Introduction:

Primary bone tumors make up 1% of cancers in adults, the most common being osteosarcoma and chondrosarcoma. Giant cell tumor (GCT) is a locally aggressive benign neoplasm, accounting for 4-10% of all primary bone tumors, but in certain populations it accounts for up to 20%. The main objective of this work was to determine the proportion of GCTs, osteosarcomas and chondrosarcomas in a period of five years, and describe the characteristics of the patients from whom they come. Clinical implications: More information about the epidemiology of bone tumors is required to know their epidemiology in the Mexican population.

Material and methods:

Descriptive observational study of a retrospective cross section including all patients who underwent surgery for tumoral resection, in public hospitals at national level, and whose histopathological pieces were processed and resulted in tissue compatible with a) GCT, b) osteosarcomas and c) chondrosarcomas.

Results:

Between 2013 and 2017, 138 cases of the three primary bone tumors studied were reported, giant cell tumor (50%), osteosarcoma (25.36%) and chondrosarcoma (24.64%). The states with the highest number of cases were the state of Mexico (45.65%) and Mexico City (26.81%). Women had a higher prevalence (57.25%) than men (42.75%). The average age of presentation of the tumors was 36.80 years.

Conclusions:

GCT is not an uncommon tumor in the Mexican population, since it has its own characteristics.