Osteosarcoma in Hong Kong

Since 1984, the authors have treated 82 Chinese patients with sarcoma of bone. Of these patients, 58 had high grade osteosarcomas in the extremities. Of the 41 patients available for examination, the age range was 8 to 59 years, with a median of 17 years. Treatment consisted of preoperative and postoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy, limb salvage surgery, or amputation. The overall survival rate was 62.9% at 2 years and 43% at 5 years. No significant difference was found in survival between the amputation and limb salvage groups, although local control was much better in the amputation group. There seemed to be better survival for patients who had a good response to preoperative chemotherapy, although the data did not reach statistical significance.