Pediatric osteosarcoma: a single institution's experience.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to evaluate outcomes with an examination of individual predictors influencing survival at a single institution.

METHODS: This was a retrospective review of the 28 pediatric osteosarcoma patients diagnosed and studied from 2000 through 2012. Twenty-eight patient charts and imaging studies were reviewed for age, race, sex, location, extent of disease at presentation, imaging results, histology, treatment options, and overall survival.

RESULTS: Of the 28 patients who were identified, the median age at diagnosis was 14 years. The majority of the patients were male African Americans with the tumor located in the lower long bones and most had conventional osteosarcoma histology. Four patients had metastasis at diagnosis. Of the 28 patients, 16 patients underwent limb salvage surgery, 6 underwent amputation, 4 had biopsy only, 1 had hip disarticulation, and 1 moved out of state and had no information available. All 28 patients received chemotherapy. Four patients received additional radiation therapy. On follow-up, 15 patients were still alive at last clinical contact and 13 died. Of the deceased, the median survival time was 2.3 years. The patient who lived the longest survived 8.3 years. Metastasis at diagnosis was associated with poorer outcome (P = 0.002). The 5-year overall survival rate was 40% (95% confidence interval 18-62) for our entire population of patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Survival in our patient cohort tended to be at the lower end of the spectrum reported by other contemporary treatment centers of excellence or Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results databases probably because of the large number of African American patients with associated poor socioeconomic status. Future studies should be conducted to explore biological and nonbiological factors that may affect the prognosis in this disease.