Blood-borne spread of a benign giant cell tumor from the radius to the soft tissue of the hand.

A unique case of giant cell tumor of the distal epiphysis of the radius that spread to the soft tissue of the hand after an en bloc excision is reported. Three months after the excision, 27 cutaneous-subcutaneous tumoral nodules, ranging from 0.3 to 1.5 cm in diameter, were observed spreading from wrist to fingers on both hand aspects. Microscopically, the tumor tissue displayed the pattern of a benign giant cell tumor. Multiple tumor tissue emboli were lodged in venules of the soft tissue between nodules and in a small vein. The findings suggest that the tumor emboli arrived at the hand through a mechanism of retrograde embolism through the superficial veins.