Abstract
Introduction and Objectives: Extraskeletal osseous sarcomas are very rare high-grade tumours. They include osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, and Ewing’s soft tissue sarcoma and their respective variants. We present a retrospective study of 25 cases covering the period from December 2002 to January 2003.
Materials and Methods: This study of 25 cases shows that this heterogeneous group of soft tissue sarcomas primarily affects adults (mean age 50.68; range 17 to 70 years). The thigh (36.60%) and the elbow-forearm (18.18%) are the most common locations for these tumours. In these cases, 14 chondrosarcomas, 8 osteosarcomas, and 3 Ewing’s sarcomas were diagnosed. Mean follow-up time was 48.9 months with a range of 16 to 197 months. There were 16 surgeries performed with wide or compartmental margins, while in the 5 remaining cases, amputations were performed, and one case of Ewing’s sarcoma of the pelvis was treated by means of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, as it was considered non-resectable. All cases of osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma were treated by means of pre- and postoperative chemotherapy and postoperative radiation therapy.
Results: The postoperative duration of symptoms ranged from 2 weeks to 6 years with a mean of 6 months. Local recurrence following surgery with wide or compartmental margens occurred in 8 cases, representing 35.45% (3 chondrosarcomas, 4 osteosarcomas, and 1 Ewing’s sarcoma). The total number of cases surviving without recurrence is 14 (63.6%), surviving cases with one or more recurrences is 5 (22.72%), one case is alive with metastasis (4.59%), and 3 sarcomas (2 ulcerated upon admission) had disseminated and the patients died (10.05%).
Discussion and Conclusions: All these tumours were high-grade sarcomas. The most common metastatic localizations were lungs, regional ganglia, and skeleton. The recommended treatment is surgery with wide or compartmental margins, if possible in the early stages, in conjunction with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The worst prognosis corresponds to the osteosarcoma.
The abstracts were prepared by Dr. E. Carlos Rodríguez-Merchán, Editor-in-Chief of the Spanish Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (Revista de Ortopedia y Traumatología). Correspondence should be sent to him at Sociedad Española de Cirugía Ortopédica y Traumatología (SECOT), Calle Fernández de los Ríos, 108, 28015-Madrid, Spain
