Limb Salvage for Osteosarcoma: Current Status with a Review of Literature

In the last 30 years a sea of change has occurred in the outlook for these cancers. Chemotherapy has allowed better local and systemic control5, 6. Better imaging with CT and MRI has allowed the surgeon to accurately define the extent and therefore plan tumor resection. Advances in bioengineering have provided exciting options for reconstruction and the world has moved from amputation to limb salvage. In osteosarcoma, survival improved from dismal 10-20% to 50-70%7, 8. Long term studies showed that limb salvage operations, performed with wide margins and chemotherapy did not compromise the survival or local control compared to an amputation9-14.