Metastases of chondrosarcoma

This study was undertaken to analyse metastases of patients with intermediate- or high-grade chondrosarcomas. Out of 24 intermediate-grade tumours, 5 (21%) developed metastases, as did 6 of 10 high-grade tumours (60%) (P = 0.04). Four patients developed pulmonary metastasis only, 5 developed both pulmonary metastases and metastases of the other sites. Two patients showed a rare metastatic pattern: bone metastases only. The metastasis rate in the primary chondrosarcoma (42%) was higher than that in the secondary chondrosarcomas (0%) (P = 0.03). The metastasis rate was higher in patients with local recurrence (86%) than in those without local recurrence (19%) (P = 0.01). In 5 of 6 patients who had a local relapse and metastasis, the interval between the two relapses was a few months. chondrosarcoma is worse in the cases with local relapse than in those without relapse (Pritchard et al. 1980). The poor prognosis of patients with a local relapse may be due to an inoperable recurrence and a higher incidence of metastasis (Sanerkin and Gallagher 1979). With better imaging techniques and surgical advances, the number of patients dying from local tumour growth is relatively low. The metastasis pattern, the influence of local relapses on metastasis, and the survival after metastasis of chondrosarcoma are still unclear. This paper focuses on the patients who developed metastases of chondrosarcomas during the postoperative follow-up.