title: Primary Bone Tumors of the Skull: Spectrum of 125 Cases, with Review of Literature.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Primary skull bone tumors, benign or malignant, are rare, and include a vast repertoire of lesions. These tumors are not reported systematically in the literature, with most studies being on individual entities or as single case reports.
  
  
  METHODS
  Primary bone tumors diagnosed over a period of 12 years were retrieved, histological diagnoses reviewed, and clinical parameters noted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 125 primary skull bone tumors. The mean age at diagnosis was 32 years (range: 2-65 years). Majority of patients were adults (82.4%); male preponderance was noted (72.8%). Malignant tumors were more frequent than benign tumors. Most common malignant tumor was chordoma (n = 37), while most common benign tumor was osteoma (n = 7). Tumors were most frequently located at the skull base, of which clivus was most common location. Chordomas accounted for majority of clival tumors, while chondrosarcoma predominated at other skull base locations. Benign tumors were extremely rare in skull base. Tumors of the vault bones were infrequent; with chondrosarcoma and osteoma being the most common malignant and benign tumors, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the largest series of primary skull bone tumors from India. Documentation of such a series will aid in approaching differential diagnosis of skull tumors in a systematic manner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Aanchal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kakkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Aruna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nambirajan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Vaishali
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Suri
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Chitra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Shashank S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kale
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Manmohan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Mehar Chand
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sharma
keywords: bone tumors; chondrosarcoma; chordoma; skull; skull base