[Prospects for conservative excision procedures in osteosarcomas in 1981]

On the tenth anniversary of the Bone Tumor Study Group (BTSG) the authors report on their overall experience of the surgical management of osteogenic osteosarcomas. Current data from the medical literature is analyzed. The authors believe that every time a resection-reconstruction procedure is possible it should be preferred to systematic amputation. This policy is warranted by the continuing advances in medical management, particularly in chemotherapy. However, when dealing with osteosarcomas, the therapist's fore-most concern is the danger to life rather than functional considerations. Attention is drawn to recent technical developments enabling total excision of vertebral and costovertebral osteosarcomas, that should lead to considerable improvement of the prognosis of such tumors which was hopeless until now.