Chemotherapy in Complex Treatment of Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Chemotherapy has substantially improved therapeutic possibilities in two groups of tumors, bone and soft tissue sarcomas. In the bone tumor group, maximum attention is given to the treatment of osteosarcoma. The results of classical treatment are compared with last decade’s studies of both adjuvant and therapeutic chemotherapy. The author’s own experience with 58 osteosarcomas treated between 1966 and 1978 is analyzed. Adjuvant multidrug chemotherapy (vincristine, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, actinomycin D and adriamycin) applied since 1971 brought a 39,2% survival in localized cases treated by radical surgery. The same che-motherapeutic combination brought 38% of long lasting objective responses in inoperable and disseminated cases. Out of 30 Ewing’s sarcoma cases, 17 with clinically localized tumors were treated between 1971 and 1977 by adjuvant chemotherapy and surgery and/or radiation. 8 (47%) are surviving and have been free of disease for 2–8 years. In inoperable and disseminated cases objective responses were observed in 55% of cases. The author’s experiences on 37 chondrosarcomas, 15 fibrosarcomas, 19 reticulosarcomas and 27 partly solitary myelomas are briefly discussed