OBJECTIVETo study the clinicopathologic and radiologic features of dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma, focusing on its diagnosis and differential diagnosis.

METHODClinical, radiological and pathologic findings of 14 cases of dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma (including biopsy and surgical specimens) were analyzed by hematoxylin and eosin stained sections and immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSThe mean age of patients was 52 years. The male-to-female ratio was 9:5. The most common sites of involvement were pelvis, femur and humerus, similar to the conventional chondrosarcoma. Radiologically, they were malignant tumors with dimorphic pattern. Grossly, central chondrosarcomas were more common than those of the peripheral. An essential histological feature of dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma was an abrupt interface between the low-grade cartilaginous tumor and high-grade anaplastic sarcoma. The most common dedifferentiated components were osteosarcoma, malignant fibrous histocytoma and fibrosarcoma. False negative diagnosis and erroneous diagnosis were frequent when only one-time biopsy was available.

CONCLUSIONSDedifferentiated chondrosarcoma is a rare subtype of chondrosarcoma with poor prognosis, which has different features of clinical manifestation, imaging features and pathological characteristics, compared to conventional chondrosarcoma and chondroblastic osteosarcoma.

Adult ; Aged ; Bone Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; pathology ; surgery ; Cell Differentiation ; Chondrosarcoma ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; pathology ; surgery ; Chondrosarcoma, Mesenchymal ; pathology ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Femoral Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; pathology ; surgery ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Humerus ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Osteosarcoma ; pathology ; Pelvic Bones ; pathology ; Radiography ; Vimentin ; metabolism ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Injectable calcium sulfate is a clinically proven osteoconductive biomaterial, and it is an injectable, resorbable and semi-structural bone graft material. The purpose of this study was to validate the clinical outcomes of injectable calcium sulfate (ICS) grafts as compared with those of a demineralized bone matrix (DBM)-based graft for filling in contained bony defects created by tumor surgery. METHODS: Fifty-six patients (41 males and 15 females) with various bone tumors and who were surgically treated between September 2003 and October 2007 were included for this study. The patients were randomly allocated into two groups, and either an ICS graft (28 patients) or a DBM-based graft (28 patients) was implanted into each contained defect that was developed by the surgery. The radiographic outcomes were compared between the two groups and various clinical factors were included for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: When one case with early postoperative pathologic fracture in the DBM group was excluded, the overall success rates of the ICS and DBM grafting were 85.7% (24/28) and 88.9% (24/27) (p > 0.05), respectively. The average time to complete healing was 17.3 weeks in the ICS group and 14.9 weeks in the DBM group (p > 0.05). Additionally, the ICS was completely resorbed within 3 months, except for one case. CONCLUSIONS: Although the rate of resorption of ICS is a concern, the injectable calcium sulfate appears to be a comparable bone graft substitute for a DBM-based graft, with a lower cost, for the treatment of the bone defects created during surgery for various bone tumors.
Absorbable Implants ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Biocompatible Materials/*administration & dosage ; Bone Demineralization Technique ; Bone Matrix/*transplantation ; Bone Neoplasms/radiography/surgery/*therapy ; Bone Substitutes/*administration & dosage ; Calcium Sulfate/*administration & dosage ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Curettage ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Injections ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Wound Healing ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the histogenesis of giant cell tumor (GCT) and factors related to tumor recurrence, invasiveness and malignant transformation.

METHODSThe clinical features, radiologic classification, surgical approach, pathologic findings, immunophenotypes and follow-up data of 123 cases of GCT were analyzed.

RESULTSThere was a significant correlation between tumor recurrence and radiographic classification (P = 0.032), over-expression of CD147 (P = 0.034) and p53 (P = 0.005), and surgical approach (P = 0.0048) in GCT. The biologic behavior showed no correlation with intramedullary infiltration, cortical bone involvement, parosteal soft tissue extension, tumor thrombi, fusiform changes of mononuclear tumor cells, mitotic count, Ki-67 index, coagulative tumor necrosis, secondary aneurysmal bone cyst formation, and adjoining bony reaction. The positive rate of p63 in stromal cells of GCT (79.7%, 94/118) was significantly higher than that in chondroblastoma (44.7%, 21/47), osteosarcoma (22.2%, 10/45) and other giant cell-rich tumors.

CONCLUSIONSGCT is a bone tumor of low malignant potential. It is sometimes characterized by locally invasive growth, active proliferation, coagulative necrosis, secondary aneurysmal bone cyst and surrounding bony reaction. It is difficult to predict the biologic behavior of GCT. Over-expression of p53 in the tumor cells and CD147 in all components of GCT correlate with tumor invasiveness, recurrence and malignant transformation. Selection of suitable surgical approach with reference to radiologic classification is considered as an important factor in reducing the recurrence rate.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Basigin ; metabolism ; Bone Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Giant Cell Tumor of Bone ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Membrane Proteins ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Osteosarcoma ; pathology ; Phosphoglucomutase ; metabolism ; Radiography ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; metabolism ; Young Adult