title: Aggressive thoracotomy for pulmonary metastatic osteogenic sarcoma in children and young adolescents.
abstract: During a 6-yr period, 57 children and young adults less than 21 yr of age underwent 111 thoracotomies for pulmonary metastatic osteogenic sarcoma. Follow-up after the initial thoracotomy averaged 36.8 no and ranged from 1 to 78 mo. Twenty-eight patients (49%) underwent more than one thoracotomy--the number of multiple thoracotomies averaged 2.9 and ranged from two to eight. Twenty-six of the 57 patients are currently alive, and 25 of these are free of disease. Median survival was 36 mo. Actuarial survival curves demonstrated a 5-yr survival of approximately 40%. Seventy-one percent of patients who had a tumor-free interval of greater than 1 yr are currently alive, compared with 39% of patients who had a tumor-free interval of less than 1 yr. Patients with disease confined to one lobe at the initial thoracotomy had a better survival (64%) than patients with diffuse or bilateral disease (41%). An aggressive surgical approach toward osteogenic sarcoma with pulmonary metastasis thus appears to be justified.
mesh_terms: D000206:Actuarial Analysis; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000601:surgery*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*