Neoplasms and Tumor-Like Lesions of the Hand

Abstract

 The hand is a very versatile functional part of the body and therefore more prone to trauma and thus trauma-related tumor-like lesions are more likely to develop in the hand and wrist region. A broad spectrum of variable lesions can involve the hand. Most are benign non-neoplastic trauma-induced tumor-like lesions. True neoplasms of the hand are predominantly benign. Primary malignant tumors of the hand are rare, apart from the common cutaneous malignancies, for example basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. Secondary metastases are very rare. Most of the hand lesions are histologically recognizable without problems. Certain highly proliferative and cellular lesions, particularly soft-tissue and skeletal benign pseudosarcomatous tumors and tumor-like lesions, can lead to misdiagnosis. The unwary pathologists, on occasions, could misinterpret them as sarcomas with catastrophic surgical management consequences for the patients. Awareness of the spectrum of neoplasms and pseudotumors that involve the hand will help pathologists avoid these interpretation errors and guide surgeons to the best surgical management for the patients.

We conducted a retrospective review study to investigate the prevalence and spectrum of hand neoplasms and tumor-like lesions in a setting of a general community-based hospital practice compared with studies conducted in specialized tertiary reference-based hospitals in developed countries.