BACKGROUND: Adjuvant chemotherapy is the most accepted treatment for localized osteosarcoma. We studied the effectiveness of preoperative cisplatin and adriamycin combination chemotherapy in non-metastatic osteosarcoma. METHODS: Twenty four cases of patient with osteosarcoma were divided into two groups except four patients treated only conservatively. Group A (14 patients) received chemotherapy before operation and Group B (6 patients) received chemotherapy after operation. The chemotherapy regimen consisted of cisplatin (120 mg/m2 on day 1) and adriamycin (adriamycin 25 mg/m2 on days 2 to 4). RESULTS: The average age of the 20 patients was 27.5 years and the median follow-up duration was 39.3 months. 12 patients of group A were treated with limb-salvage operation and 2 patients with amputation because of tumor growing. According to Kaplan-Meier's plot, one year, three year overall survival rate were 100%, 85% in Group A and 100%, 75% in Group B. Histologic responses were assessed in patients received preoperative chemotherapy. Tumor necrosis over 90% is noted in 9 patients, under 90% necrosis is noted 5 patients. Their mean survival was 82 months and 25 months, respectively (p>0.05). CONCLSUION: Adjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin and adriamycin was feasible in non-metastatic osteosarcoma and clinically significant adverse effect was neutropenia.
Amputation ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Cisplatin* ; Doxorubicin* ; Drug Therapy* ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Limb Salvage ; Necrosis ; Neutropenia ; Osteosarcoma* ; Survival Rate