No improvement in the overall survival of 194 patients with chondrosarcoma in Finland in 1971-1990

Abstract

We describe the clinicopathologic profile and survival of 306 patients with chondrosarcoma reported to the Finnish Cancer Registry in 1971-1990. 218 cases were available for reevaluation. Owing to their various clinicopathologic characteristics, we excluded the histologic variants of chondrosarcoma. Therefore, the final study population included 194 patients. The minimum follow-up was 9 years. The study population included 69 grade 1 tumors, 114 grade 2 tumors, and 11 grade 3 tumors. The commonest tumor sites were the chest, pelvis and femur. A local recurrence developed in 25% of the patients and metastatic lesions in 18%. The patients were treated in 31 hospitals (in 22 hospitals during the 1970s and in 26 in the 1980s), and the number of patients biopsied before the referral remained about the same from the 1970s (15%) to the 1980s (18%). The 5-and 10-year disease-specific survival rates were 70% and 57%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that the most important independent predictors of shortened survival were high histologic grade, age 50 years or older, and a diagnosis in the 1980s, as compared to the 1970s. Most findings accorded with reports from specialist treatment centers, but to our surprise, the survival rate declined among patients diagnosed in the 1980s versus the 1970s. The failure to improve patient survival is probably due to treatment of the patients in 31 hospitals rather than in a few centers dealing with treatment of cancer.