Osteosarcoma recurrences in pediatric patients previously treated with intensive chemotherapy

Between January 1981 and June 1993, 137 children and adolescents were each treated at the Institut Gustave Roussy for an initially nonmetastatic osteosarcoma of the extremities. We report the retrospective analysis of 42 cases of recurrence that occurred in this population.

The median interval between the diagnosis of the primary osteosarcoma and the first recurrence was 21 months (range, 5 to 60). The site of the first recurrence was limited to the lung in 20 patients, the bone in seven patients, was local in six patients, and was confined to soft tissue in one patient. In eight patients, the first recurrence affected multiple sites. Subsequent recurrences often involved unusual or multiple sites. Management of recurrences included surgery and/or various regimens of second-line chemotherapy, and in one case involved high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous bone marrow transplantation. Overall survival and event-free survival were, respectively, 36% and 27% at 36 months. At present, 13 patients are alive without evidence of disease. Response of the primary tumor to preoperative chemotherapy, the time between the diagnosis and the first recurrence, and the number of metastatic lesions did not correlate with survival. The survival rate is better in patients with a local or a pulmonary first recurrence.

The most important prognostic indicator at first recurrence seems to be the possible complete resection of disease. Patients not amenable to surgery and patients with a second or a third recurrence have a poor prognosis. The potential benefit of more aggressive treatments such as high-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation should be investigated for these patients.