Biopsy of vertebral tumour metastasis for diagnosing unknown primaries.

PURPOSE 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. CONCLUSION Transpedicular biopsy of the vertebra is a cost-effective diagnostic tool for evaluating unknown primary tumours.