title: Biopsy of vertebral tumour metastasis for diagnosing unknown primaries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine patients with vertebral tumour metastasis using transpedicular biopsy for diagnosing unknown primary tumours.
  
  
  METHODS
  13 men and 8 women aged 41 to 80 (mean, 61) years with vertebral tumour metastasis of unknown primary origin underwent transpedicular biopsy of the affected vertebra.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The origins of the primary tumours were lung cancer (n = 6), prostate cancer (n = 5), colorectal cancer (n = 5), kidney cancer (n = 4) and lymphoma (n = 1). All the specimens matched pathological characteristics of their corresponding primary tumours, except in one patient. This 42-year-old man had stage-4 colon cancer, in whom the pathologic findings could not enable differentiation between colon and prostate cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Transpedicular biopsy of the vertebra is a cost-effective diagnostic tool for evaluating unknown primary tumours.
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedics and Traumatology Department, Medicine Faculty, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey.
authors.forename: Orhan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Buyukbebeci
authors.forename: Gunhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Karakurum
authors.forename: Ediz
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tutar
authors.forename: Akif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gulec
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Arpacioglu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000556:secondary*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009382:Neoplasms, Unknown Primary / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae