Three Metachronous Osteosarcomas within 22 Years without Pulmonary Metastases: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Introduction. We present the extremely rare case of a patient with three metachronous osteosarcomas within 22 years without evident pulmonary manifestation of disease 30 years after first diagnosis. Case Presentation. In 1983, a high-grade osteosarcoma of the left distal femur was diagnosed in an 18-year-old Caucasian male. He received rotationplasty accompanied by pre- and postoperative chemotherapy. Ten years later, an osteoblastic osteosarcoma occurred in TH12. En bloc resection and pre- and postoperative chemotherapy followed. In 2005, the patient developed another high-grade osteosarcoma in his right distal femur. Treatment included a wide resection and reconstruction with a tumour endoprosthesis as well as (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy. After the third tumour occurrence, cytogenetic and molecular genetic examinations (p53, rb1) were performed, showing a normal genetic pattern. Screening for metastases never showed clinical evidence of extraskeletal tumour manifestation. Discussion. In patients presenting metachronous osteosarcoma, identification of their lesions clonality (second primary tumour or metastases) could lead to a better understanding of tumour development and help to filter patients who need extended long-term followup due to a higher risk of late occurring sarcoma recurrence.

Figure 1

Histopathological pictures of the last high-grade osteosarcoma of the right distal femur in 2005 (a) before and (b) after chemotherapeutic application.

Figure 2

Overview about localisation, timely occurrence, and operative intervention of the three metachronous osteosarcomas as in our 48-year-old male patient 30 years after first osteosarcoma diagnosis.