Ewing's sarcoma: fifteen years' experience at Angau Memorial Hospital

A retrospective study was carried out on Ewing's sarcoma as seen between 1973 and 1987 at the Cancer Treatment Centre, Angau Memorial Hospital, Lae, Papua New Guinea. Some striking differences were observed in the epidemiological indices and the clinical picture of this disease here, when compared with other centres in the world. Most notably, Ewing's sarcoma, hitherto a rare tumour in this country, seems to be on the increase. In addition, among the flat bones, involvement of the scapula was disproportionately high. The early response to treatment was similar to findings elsewhere, although the long-term patient follow-up in this series was not satisfactory enough to allow proper estimates of long-term survival rates. The most recently advocated approach to the management of Ewing's sarcoma, which emphasizes surgery in preference to radiotherapy for local disease control, and adjuvant chemotherapy for micrometastases, is outlined.