[Conservative surgical treatment in osteogenic sarcoma of the limbs]

The authors have treated a first series of 46 cases of osteogenic sarcoma of a limb by local resection between 1975 and April 1983. Cases with metastases were excluded. The surgical procedures used for reconstruction are described. The patients were operated on first and then treated by chemotherapy using several schemes of treatment. After an average follow-up of three years, 26 patients appeared to be free of any recurrence or metastasis. The importance of an extensive resection followed by appropriate chemotherapy is stressed. In a second series of 37 cases treated between May 1983 and March 1984, the patients were first treated by chemotherapy (methotrexate in high dosage and CDDP by intra-arterial perfusion) and then operated on. In the second series, the percentage of tumour necrosis seen in resected cases was found to be very high.