Introduction: giant cell tumors of bone are locally aggressive lesions that tend to recur locally and that rarely metastasize. Objective: to describe clinical and histological features, and relative frequency of giant cell tumors of bone in a single center, in the city of Medellin-Colombia. Materials and methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted. All the tumors diagnosed as giant cell tumor of bone between 1944 and 2008 in the Department of Pathology of Universidad de Antioquia were reviewed, and for each patient, important clinical and histological features were assessed. Results: between the years 1944 and 2008, 2,185 bone tumors were diagnosed; of these, 302 were diagnosed as giant cell tumor of bone, but in this study the diagnosis was confirmed only in 117 cases; 5.3% of all bone tumors. The female: male ratio was 1.1:1. The tumors were most frequently found in the distal femur (19.7%), proximal tibia (25.6%), hands and feet (11.1%), distal radio (9.4%), and proximal humerus (8.5%). Atypical features observed in the tumors included spindle cell areas, soft tissue invasion, necrosis, hemorrhage, aneurysmal bone cyst-like changes, and osteoid formation. Conclusion: giant cell tumor of bone is a histologically and clinically heterogeneous lesion that can be found in almost any bone and the frequency of occurrence in our center is similar that reported in large centers around world.