The value of recognizing suspect diagnoses in the triple diagnosis of giant cell tumor of bone

Giant cell tumor (GCT) of bone is the most frequently over-diagnosed neoplasm in orthopedic pathology because giant cells are a common component of many neoplastic and nonneoplastic conditions of bone. Triple diagnosis, requiring substantial individual and collective inputs by orthopedic surgeons, radiologists and pathologists, is the preferred method for the workup of patients with suspected bone neoplasms. At each stage in triple diagnosis, deviations from the typical must be regarded as clues to alternate diagnoses: the greater the deviation, the more a diagnosis of GCT must be considered suspect. A suspect diagnosis must trigger renewed analysis of the available data and a diligent search to exclude alternate diagnoses. This review lists suspect diagnoses of GCT with a brief overview of each.