Osteosarcoma and chondrosarcoma of the shoulder: site-specific comparative analysis

Osteosarcoma and chondrosarcoma compose most of the primary malignancies of the shoulder. The literature lacks site-specific comparative analyses of these 2 major shoulder sarcomas. The purposes of this study were to describe the different characteristics of the 2 major sarcomas near the glenohumeral joint, examine differences in treatment outcomes, and evaluate the functional outcomes of limb salvage surgery. Thirty-two patients with osteosarcoma or chondrosarcoma who underwent a wide resection including the glenohumeral joint were enrolled in this study. The characteristics of tumor development and treatment, oncologic and functional outcomes, and factors affecting outcomes were compared between groups and with the literature. The results showed shoulder osteosarcoma developing similarly to the literature reports, whereas chondrosarcoma tended to be of a high histologic grade. Nonetheless, the osteosarcoma group had a poorer overall 5-year survival rate (53.0%) than the chondrosarcoma group (85.7%) or those in previous reports. The osteosarcoma group had a tendency toward a worse 5-year metastasis-free survival rate than the chondrosarcoma group (35.4% vs 75.0%, respectively), although the 5-year local recurrence-free survival rate was not significantly different between the 2 groups (75.0% vs 87.5%, respectively). Histologic grade, surgical stage, and chemotherapy affected the oncologic outcomes in univariate analysis, although not a single factor was independent in multivariate analysis. The functional outcomes were not significantly affected by clinical characteristics or surgical methods in patients who had undergone a wide resection including the glenohumeral joint.