The case of a 54-year-old man is reported who suffered from a painful swollen wrist with signs of inflammation. Due to persisting symptoms and development of osteolysis at the wrist, surgical exploration and excision of a metastatic tumor was performed. It then took further two months to discover the primary tumor, a small-cell bronchogenic carcinoma. This case with its non-characteristic history emphasizes that in all cases of prolonged soft-tissue swelling, tumors originating from soft-tissue or bone or metastatic tumors must be considered in differential diagnosis.