Improved results in osteogenic sarcoma 1973-79 vs. 1980-86: analysis of results from a single center.

Analysis of treatment results in osteogenic sarcoma patients with classical limb primary tumors and without metastasis at diagnosis or major protocol violations showed improved prognosis with a minimum follow-up of over 5.5 years when divided by years of treatment for all event-free survivors. Twelve patients treated in 1980-86 had a 5-year disease-free survival of 67% and 9 treated in 1973-79 had a 5-year disease-free survival of 33% (P = 0.0368). The improvement appeared to reflect the increase in the intensity of the chemotherapy utilized. Definitive surgery, amputation or limb salvage did not affect the outcome. With these surgical approaches the disease-free survival was 67% and 60% respectively.