title: Retrospective study on osteosarcoma and ewing sarcoma - our experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Primary bone tumors are relatively rare types of cancer. Their relative frequency is not yet well established and still there is more information needed regarding the evolution and prognosis of those patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We analyzed several factors (site of lesion, tumor stage, tumor volume, disease related complications, therapy related complications) that influenced the evolution of bone tumor in a lot of patients diagnosed with osteosarcoma or Ewing sarcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review was conducted on hospital-based registry from the Emergency Hospital for Children "Louis Turcanu" Timisoara. Patients with newly diagnosed osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma, hospitalised in our clinic during a period of 10 years (1996-2006) were included. Records were analyzed for patient demographics, site of lesion, treatment and outcomes. The study group was composed of 36 patients with bone tumors, with ages betwen 3-23 years, who came from Timis and several counties around it.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found Ewing Sarcoma (ES) in 52.94% of cases and osteosarcoma (OS) in 47.06% of cases analyzed. We found diseases in advanced stages in 33.3% of cases in stage III and in 27.7% in stage IV. Tumoral volume had more than 200 cm3 in 53.3% of OS patients and in 21% of cases of ES. Treatment was accomplished according to the European protocols, COSS 96 in 66.6% of OS cases, EWING 99 in 73.6% of ES cases. Disease related complications were found in 26.6% of OS cases and in 51% of ES patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, the patients survival rate at 5 years after diagnosis was lower than in other studies. A possible explaination for such a high rate of mortality could be the delayed diagnosis and the advanced stage of the neoplasia, especially for Ewing sarcoma where only 16.66% of the patients were stage I or II. For the short time survival it was found a corelation with the period of time between the simptoms appearance and the moment of diagnosis, tumor stage, metastasis and severity of the complications.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Genetics, "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nedelcu
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Genetics, "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Nicoleta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Andreescu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania ; "Louis Turcanu" Emergency Hospital for Children, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Estera
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boeriu
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Genetics, "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania ; School of Medicine, "Titu Maiorescu" University, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Radu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stefanescu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania ; "Louis Turcanu" Emergency Hospital for Children, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Smaranda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arghirescu
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Genetics, "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania ; "Louis Turcanu" Emergency Hospital for Children, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puiu
keywords: Ewing sarcoma; bone; cancer; metastasis; osteosarcoma; tumor