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Long-term survival after central nervous system relapse in a patient with osteosarcoma
L H Wexler1, T F DeLaney, S Saris
1Pediatric Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Background:
Since the advent of multiagent adjuvant chemotherapy, survival among patients with localized osteosarcoma has improved to 60% or more. Pulmonary relapse, the most common cause of treatment failure, is associated with less than 25% long-term survival; central nervous system (CNS) metastasis, when it occurs, often presents as a catastrophic clinical event in preterminal patients.
Methods:
The authors report a patient with osteosarcoma who had an isolated pulmonary relapse and a subsequent isolated CNS relapse. Complete surgical resection was accomplished on both occasions and followed in the initial instance by adjuvant chemotherapy and in the latter instance by adjuvant whole-brain irradiation.
Results:
An isolated CNS metastasis was resected and adjuvant whole brain irradiation was administered; the patient is alive and relapse free more than 5 years later.
Conclusions:
Patients with osteosarcoma in whom isolated, resectable metastases develop can derive benefit from gross total resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy or radiation therapy for microscopic residual disease.