title: Bone sarcoma: treatment by irradiation, amputation, or a combination of the two.
abstract: A retrospective survey of all cases of osteosarcoma of the femur and tibia treated at the major centres in the United Kingdom during 1952-9 was carried out in an attempt to assess the respective value of treatment by surgery and radiotherapy and the feasibility of a larger prospective study. Of the 192 patients available for the comparison, those treated by radiotherapy alone did least well. A combination of the two treatments-radiotherapy followed by amputation-produced better results, in terms of survival, than amputation alone; however, the comparatively small numbers involved and the inadequacy of information about the factors dictating the choice of treatment make firm conclusions impossible. A controlled clinical trial on a larger scale might provide answers to the outstanding questions.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000671:Amputation, Surgical / Q000401:mortality; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005266:Femoral Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011882:Radiotherapy, High-Energy / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013977:Tibia