Pathologic, radiologic, and diagnostic aspects of primary reticulum cell sarcoma of bone are discussed. A case of primary reticulum cell sarcoma of the skull is reported. This type of lesion is extremely uncommon; only 3 documented cases have previously been reported. All 4 cases have similar clinical features and, by comparing these with reticulum cell sarcoma of other bones, it appears possible that these are relatively more common in women, occur in older age groups, are less aggressive, and do not metastasize as rapidly. Response to adequate irradiation is excellent, and the prognosis appears to be good. Tumor dose of about 4000 rads delivered in 4 weeks is considered satisfactory.
RIMARY RETICULUM CELL SARCOMA OF THE
P bone was first described by Oberling in 1928.8 H e suggested the possibility that reticulum cell sarcoma could originate directly from the reticuloendothelial elements of the bone. Eleven years later, in 1939, Parker and Jackson9 reported an uncommon tumor of the bone which they named reticulum cell sarcoma and so established this type of sarcoma as a distinct entity from the clinical and histopathologic point of view. They described 17 cases with a more favorable course than its appearance would indicate. Following this report, Ewing,4 in 1939, accepted primary reticulum cell sarcoma of the bone as a distinct entity for inclusion in a revised classification of bone tumors for the Eone Sarcoma Registry of the American College of Surgeons, identifying primary reticulum cell sarcoma of the bone as a pathologic reality. Since then, numerous cases have been reported, the largest series of 93 cases being presented by Veraguth and Candardjisle i n 1963. Many authors still believe that classification of primary reticulum cell sarcoma of the bone is still undecided.