Bone tumours

Checklist - Soft Tissue & Solitary/Multiple

Step 7. Growth into the soft tissue

Although MRI is the gold standard, there are sometimes indications on x-ray that a bone tumour is growing into the soft tissues outside the bone. This is visible as spherical soft tissue configurations/shadows outside the bone and/or displacement of a surrounding structure. An example of the latter is the displacement of ‘fat planes’ in the surrounding area. These are layers of normal fat between the other structures (e.g. muscles) that are clearly visible due to the lower density of fat. This phenomenon is often seen in the soft tissues surrounding an area with extensive cortical destruction (fig. 20).
Generally speaking, growth into the soft tissues is a sign of a malignant process.