Posterior screw–plate fixation of a breast cancer metastasis that had caused severe pain in a 57–year–old woman who died six months after surgery. The plate was removed from the frozen specimen and the screw tracts and the plate cavity were filled with a blue casting medium. This slide is a sagittal cryosection through the articular pillar from C3 to C6. Three screws traverse the facet joints. At C4 and C6 the screws have poor purchase in the metastatic bone, the lowest screw erodes the bone. The 18mm long screws (11mm effective screw length) are oriented sagittally in the articular mass and point towards the nerve roots, ganglia and segmental arteries.