Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is principally a disease of the pre-teenager and teenage individual. Pain and swelling of an extremity are the usual initial symptoms. A number of neoplastic and nonneoplastic conditions must be considered in the differential diagnosis. Good quality radiographs complement pathologic material in establishing the diagnosis. Major advances as a consequence of chemotherapy have been achieved during the past decade. Disease-free survival following surgical ablation of the primary tumor and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy is approximately 60%. The majority of patients undergoing modern forms of treatment are also candidates for limb salvage.