Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma treated with total en bloc spondylectomy for 2 consecutive lumbar vertebrae resulted in continuous disease-free survival for more than 5 years: case report.

STUDY DESIGN

A case report of an extremely rare malignant spinal tumor successfully treated with total en bloc spondylectomy and chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE

To describe points for consideration when an osteogenic lesion in the spine is diagnosed and treated.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

Primary mesenchymal chondrosarcoma in the spine is extremely rare. There were no reports of this tumor being treated with spondylectomy to achieve total surgical resection with a wide margin followed by chemotherapy.

METHODS

A 44-year-old female presented with low back pain and left flank pain. Magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography showed an osteosclerotic tumor of the lumbar vertebrae. Tc-99m HMDP bone scintigraphy was positive, but thallium-201 scintigraphy and gallium scintigraphy were negative. The patient was diagnosed as having chondrosarcoma based on biopsy findings.

RESULTS

To resect the tumor completely, total en bloc spondylectomy for 2 consecutive lumbar vertebrae was performed. However, the postoperative pathologic diagnosis was extremely difficult because the patient was initially suspected to have osteosarcoma, but the final diagnosis was mesenchymal chondrosarcoma. Five years after surgery, there have not been any signs of local recurrence or distant metastasis, and the patient has remained continuously disease free.

CONCLUSIONS

To our knowledge, we reported the first case of mesenchymal chondrosarcoma occurring from the lumbar spine treated with total en bloc spondylectomy and chemotherapy. Successful radical resection of the tumor could be accomplished. Although the effect of chemotherapy on the final results could not be clearly determined, considering that at least continuous disease-free survival was achieved, it is highly likely that chemotherapy contributed to the favorable results.