What is the Difference Between Giant Cell Tumor and Aneurysmal Bone Cyst

The key difference between giant cell tumor and aneurysmal bone cyst is that giant cell tumor is a benign bone tumor composed of mononuclear stromal cells and characteristic multinucleated giant cells usually developed in long bones, while aneurysmal bone cyst is a benign bone tumor composed of multiple varying sizes of spaces filled with blood in bones usually developed around the knee, pelvis or spine.

Benign bone tumors are non-cancerous growths that include echondroma, giant cell tumor and aneurysmal bone cyst, osteoid osteoma, chondroblastoma, and osteoblastoma. These tumors most commonly occur from late childhood to early adulthood in the long bones of the arms and legs, beyond which they normally do not spread. Giant cell tumor and aneurysmal bone cysts are two types of benign bone tumors.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is a Giant Cell Tumor  
3. What is an Aneurysmal Bone Cyst
4. Similarities – Giant Cell Tumor and Aneurysmal Bone Cyst
5. Giant Cell Tumor vs Aneurysmal Bone Cyst in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Giant Cell Tumor vs Aneurysmal Bone Cyst

What is a Giant Cell Tumor?

Giant cell tumor is a benign bone tumor composed of mononuclear stromal cells and characteristic multinucleated giant cells. Giant cell tumor develops near a joint at the end of the bone. It usually develops in long bones and knees. Sometimes, it can also affect flat bones such as breast bones or pelvis. Giant cell tumor most often occurs in young adults when skeletal bone growth is completed. The exact cause of this disease is not known, but it has been linked to Paget disease of bone.

The most common symptoms of giant cell tumor include a visible mass, bone fracture, fluid build-up in the joint nearest the affected bone, limited movement in the nearest joint, and swelling and pain at the nearest joint. Giant cell tumor can be diagnosed through biopsy, radionuclide bone scans, and X-rays. Furthermore, the treatment options include amputation in severe cases, bone grafting, bone reconstruction, physical therapy to regain strength and mobility, and surgery to remove the tumor and any damaged area in the bone.

What is an Aneurysmal Bone Cyst?

Aneurysmal bone cyst is a benign bone tumor composed of multiple varying sizes of spaces filled with blood in bone. This tumor usually develops around the knee, pelvis, or spine. The majority of aneurysmal bone cysts are hollow and filled with different-sized liquid or blood-filled sacs called cysts. The symptoms of this condition may include pain, swelling, stiffness, deformity in the area of the growth, feeling warmth over the affected area, decreased range of motion, and weakness or stiffness. The exact cause of this disease is not known. But it has been linked to a mutation of the ubiquitin-specific peptidase 6 (USP6) gene on chromosome 17.

Most often, this condition is diagnosed through physical examination, X-ray, CT scan, MRI, EOS imaging, angiography, and needle biopsy. Furthermore, treatments for aneurysmal bone cyst may include intralesional injection or serial embolization, intralesional curettage, intraoperative adjuvants, and bone grafting.

What are the Similarities Between Giant Cell Tumor and Aneurysmal Bone Cyst?

• Giant cell tumor and aneurysmal bone cysts are two types of benign bone tumors.
• Both are benign non-cancerous tumors affecting bones.
• Both tumors can affect knee and pelvis bone.
• They are treatable through respective surgeries.

What is the Difference Between Giant Cell Tumor and Aneurysmal Bone Cyst?

Giant cell tumor is a benign bone tumor composed of mononuclear stromal cells and characteristic multinucleated giant cells, and it usually develops in long bones, while aneurysmal bone cyst is a benign bone tumor composed of multiple varying sizes of spaces filled with blood in bones which usually develops around the knee, pelvis, or spine. Thus, this is the key difference between giant cell tumor and aneurysmal bone cyst. Furthermore, giant cell tumor affects long bones, knee, breast bone, or pelvis, while aneurysmal bone cyst affects knees, pelvis, or spine.

The below infographic presents the differences between giant cell tumor and aneurysmal bone cyst in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Giant Cell Tumor vs Aneurysmal Bone Cyst

Giant cell tumor and aneurysmal bone cyst are two types of benign non-cancerous bone tumors. Giant cell tumor is a benign bone tumor composed of mononuclear stromal cells and characteristic multinucleated giant cells. This tumor usually develops in long bones. Aneurysmal bone cyst is a benign bone tumor composed of multiple varying sizes of spaces filled with blood in bones, which usually develops around the knee, pelvis, or spine. So, this summarizes the difference between giant cell tumor and aneurysmal bone cyst.

Reference:

1. “Giant Cell Tumor.” Johns Hopkins Medicine.
2. “Aneurysmal Bone Cyst.” Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Giant cell tumour of bone – very high mag” By Nephron – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Cisti aneurismatica” By Meryem Boubbou, Karima Atarraf, Lamiae Chater, Abderrahmane Afifi, Siham Tizniti – Meryem Boubbou et al. 2013. Aneurysmal bone cyst primary – about eight pediatric cases: radiological aspects and review of the literature. The Pan African Medical Journal. (CC BY 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia