title: Central nervous system mesenchymal chondrosarcoma.
abstract: Central nervous system mesenchymal chondrosarcomas are rare malignant tumors that constitute a separate entity from the classical chondrosarcoma and myxoid variant. Clinical behaviour of central nervous system chondrosarcomas is still unknown. We describe two rare examples of intracranial mesenchymal chondrosarcoma with a review of the literature, in an attempt to clarify the clinical characteristics, prognosis and treatment of choice of these unusual tumors. Among the 55 reported cases, 23 had postoperative radiotherapy. Although there is no statistical significance according to the Log-Rank test (p=0.7), the patients treated with radiation therapy seem to have a better chance of survival. Patients who had adjuvant chemotherapy (only 5) showed survival times similar to those patients who had none. Although clinical behaviour of central nervous system chondrosarcomas remains to be defined, data from our series as well as literature show that radical removal is the best therapeutic choice. In addition, patients treated with postoperative radiotherapy seem to show a trend toward increased survival.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Neurosurgery, Policlinico S. Andrea, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy. salvati.maurizio@libero.it
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salvati
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Caroli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frati
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piccirilli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agrillo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brogna
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Occhiogrosso
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Giangaspero
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D002356:Cartilage / Q000473:pathology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D016543:Central Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018211:Chondrosarcoma, Mesenchymal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents