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Recent advances in radiotherapy and chemotherapy frequently prolong the life of patients with carcinomatosis, but the suffering and disability resulting from pathological fracture require aggressive local treatment in order to alleviate pain and restore skeletal stability. Out of 89 patients with 102 pathological fractures, 28 patients underwent surgery for 30 fractures. Radical local excision of tumour tissue and filling of the defect with methylmethacrylate was augmented by internal fixation. These procedures resulted in immediate and significant pain relief with consequent improvement in the quality of the patient's life.

Eleven cases of osteoblastoma (spongious osteoblastoma) and four cases of osteoid osteoma (cortical osteoblastoma) involving the spine, diagnosed at Hadassah Hospital between 1970 and 1983 were analyzed. The age range was 7 to 34 years and the average clinical follow up was 63 months. The cervical spine was involved in four patients, thoracic in tour, lumbar in six and the sacrum in one patient. Back or neck pain associated with stiffness was present in all cases and was often accompanied by scoliosis or torticollis. All the patients with osteoid osteoma were symptom relieved by surgery without recurrence. Seven of the patients with benign osteoblastoma presented with neurological signs or symptoms and three of these had recurrence following primary surgery. Although cortical and spongious osteoblastoma are considered as members of the same family of benign tumors of osteoblastic derivation, spongious osteoblastoma does not seem to be limited in growth potential as is cortical osteoblastoma.