[Treatment of osteosarcoma in children with pre- and postoperative chemotherapy and block resection of the tumor].

The authors describe the results of five pediatric patients with nonmetastatic osteosarcoma of an extremity, admitted from 1987 to 1989 to the Hospital Infantil del Estado de Sonora. Four patients presented with their primary tumor located at the distal end of the femur, whereas one had a primary lesion of the humerus. All of them received preoperative chemotherapy consisted of two cycles of cisplatin and adriamycin. One of the patients presented immediate complications after first cicle and died due to overwhelming sepsis by Candida albicans. Surgery was an amputation in one patients and block ressection in three cases. Necrosis was good in three cases, fair in one. Postoperative chemotherapy consisted of bleomycin, cyclophosphamide and dactinomycin every four weeks alternated with cisplatin plus adriamycin. One of the three patients, in which block ressection was made, had a local recurrence 12 months after diagnosis, without metastasis. He underwent desarticulation and died four months later of leukoencephalopathy and no tumor was found on necropsy. Three patients have remained continuously free of disease with follow up of 20, 26 and 31 months after diagnosis and are out of chemotherapy since 5, 12 and 17 months, respectively. In two of them the affected extremity still is safe.