The importance of initial presentation and treatment upon the survival of patients with chondrosarcoma.

The effect of initial presenting symptoms, degree of tumor differentiation and type of surgical procedure on survival was evaluated in a 20 year review of 42 patients with chondrosarcoma. Therapy of patients presenting initially with a painless mass resulted in a median survival period longer than 13 years versus less than three years of the initial symptom was pain. Median survival time of patients with well differentiated chondrosarcomas was more than ten years compared with 1.2 years if the tumor was less well differentiated. Even if the sarcoma was nonresectable, these factors influenced the survival time. Since chondrosarcomas tended to recur locally rather than to metastasize, a number of patients who had a recurrence after the initial surgical excision could be saved by a more radical secondary operation.