Seventy-two pathological fractures associated with tumors other than
carcinoma of the breast in the long bones of the extremities of sixty
patients were treated over a five-year period at Roswell Park Memorial
Institute. Pain was relieved in 91 per cent of the patients treated by
internal fixation, in 59 per cent of those treated by irradiation, and in
45 per cent of those treated by other means. Among patients with
lower-extremity fractures, 61 per cent of those treated by internal
fixation became ambulatory, whereas only 23 per cent of those treated by
other methods were able to walk. Internal fixation of these pathological
fractures appeared to be the best treatment.