Campanacci grade is used to determine the aggressiveness of a tumor based on the behavior upon radiographic appearance. There are three stages which correlates to tumor aggressiveness and risk of recurrence (1). Your healthcare team can use a patient's grade to make predictions about recurrence and treatment options.
Grade I: Grade I refers to tumors that have distinct boundaries between the tumor and the bone, with the dense outer surface of the bone still intact or slightly thinned. Generally patients with Grade I tumors are asymptomatic and are diagnosed incidentally at this stage.
Grade II: Grade II refers to relatively well-defined tumor and thinned, slightly deformed, and reactive outer surface of the bone due to the tumor growth. However, the outer surface of the bone is still present. This typically does not include a fracture. This is the most common stage in which GCT of the bone patients are diagnosed, this is because the tumor becomes active on diagnostic imaging.
Grade III: Grade III refers to a tumor with no clear border, suggesting rapid growth, and the tumor is invading into soft tissue, does not follow the bone, and expands outside of the outer surface of the bone. This grade is considered the most aggressive. Grade III makes up 10-15% of GCT of the bone. The tumor extends beyond the bone on diagnostic scans (2). Thirty percent of patients with lung metastasis had a GCT of the bone designation of Grade III (3).