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More work needed to improve survival rates
Joint problems is one of the chronic conditions listed in the content about osteosarcoma patients, who receive limb-sparing surgery.
Before 1970, the only treatment available for osteosarcoma (bone cancer) was amputation. With surgery alone, only 10–20% of people with osteosarcoma survived. Over time, the surgical approach and treatment of osteosarcoma has changed. Adding chemotherapy to surgery improved cure rates to more than 60%. Surgical advances now also allow many survivors to keep their arm or leg after treatment (when the tumor grows there) with a newer procedure called limb sparing surgery.
This study looked at how these new treatment approaches affect the health and survival of people with osteosarcoma. Researchers reviewed health information from 1,257 patients in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study treated from 1970–99. Scientists gathered information about survivor treatment, health, medical conditions, and mortality. They compared osteosarcoma survivors to their siblings without cancer. They also compared osteosarcoma survivors treated with MAP chemotherapy (a combination of methotrexate, doxorubicin, and cisplatin, the most used drugs today) and limb-sparing surgery to those who were not. They followed the survivors for about 24 years.
After 20 years, survivors who received the new standard MAP and surgery were living longer than those treated with older treatment approaches. In their later years, osteosarcoma survivors had a greater risk of developing chronic health conditions, like problems with their heart, muscles, or hearing as compared to their siblings without cancer.
Osteosarcoma survivors who received MAP treatment were 2 times more likely to have chronic health conditions than those who had no chemotherapy. Limb-sparing surgery reduced the need for amputation, but survivors with a limb-sparing procedure reported problems with their bones, joints, tendons, and muscles.
Current chemotherapy treatments have improved patient survival. But survivors still have more chronic health conditions that can affect their quality of life.
What does this mean for you?
New treatments are improving the 5-year survival rate for survivors with osteosarcoma, but they are still at risk for developing issues later on in life. It is important to follow your survivorship care plan, practice good health habits, get required check-ups and screenings, and report any problems or late effects early to help identify and manage any problems.
If you had limb-sparing surgery, follow the recommendations of your care team and report any problems. If you had an amputation, follow the recommendations of your prosthetist (a health care expert who makes and fits artificial limbs) to maintain good function. Let them know if you have any problems.
Reference
Becktell K, Chen Y, Yasui Y, Phelan R, Armstrong GT, Link M, Oeffinger K, Snyder C, Daw N, Weil B, Weldon C, Chow EJ, Schwartz CL. Long-term outcomes among survivors of childhood osteosarcoma: A report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS). Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2024 Oct;71(10):e31189.