Secondary osteosarcoma arising after treatment for childhood hematologic malignancies

Development of Secondary Osteosarcoma After TBI and Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplant: A Case Series of 3 Patients

Osteosarcoma can rarely occur as a subsequent malignant neoplasm after cancer therapy. Children who underwent treatment for cancer and received an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant are at a higher risk to develop secondary malignancies. Radiation is also a known risk factor, but estimating the quantitative risk is difficult due to the rarity of the condition and long latency period between primary and secondary cancer. In this report, we present 3 patients diagnosed with leukemia as young children who received hematopoietic cell transplants with total body irradiation as part of the conditioning regimen, and later went on to develop secondary osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Children and Adolescents: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Osteosarcoma as a secondary malignancy after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is very rare. We present a case and review of 18 other cases reported to date. Our patient underwent HSCT for myelodysplastic syndrome at the age of 4 years. She developed osteosarcoma 13 years later. She underwent surgery after three courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by chemotherapy and mifamurtide. She has no evidence of disease 28 months after termination of chemotherapy. In 18 other cases of secondary osteosarcoma in the literature, 15 had received total body irradiation, eight had received alkylating agents, and six had received etoposide. The median interval from HSCT to the onset of osteosarcoma was 6.5 years (range 2.5-15.3), which confirms that children undergoing HSCT should be followed up for many years. In conclusion, osteosarcoma must be included in the differential diagnosis among solid tumors that may develop following HSCT.

[Classical osteosarcoma in children and adolescent]

Classical osteosarcoma is one of the most common primary malignant bone tumors in children and adolescents. It more frequently occurs in the areas of the highest growth plate proliferation: limb long bones particularly in the distal femur (30%), proximal tibia (15%), and proximal humerus (15%). In the long bones, the tumor is located usually in the metaphysis (90%), less frequently in the diaphysis (9%), and very rarely in the epiphysis. This paper considers the clinical, radiological, and histological diagnosis, and prognosis in this pathology.

Sarcomas in Nigerian Children in Jos North Central Nigeria

BACKGROUND

There is a growing concern about childhood sarcomas, with recent studies suggesting an increase in the frequency of childhood sarcomas in sub-Saharan Africa. This study was carried out to determine the pattern of childhood sarcomas in Jos, North Central Nigeria and to compare the data obtained with other previous related studies.

METHODS

Review of the Jos University Teaching Hospital cancer registry from January 2001 to December 2010. Data of all children (0-15 years) in the data base were retrieved for analysis.

RESULTS

Two hundred and ten histological diagnosis of malignancies were made in children over the period, with 81 cases (39%) being childhood Sarcomas. The sarcomas occurred predominantly in males (54%) with male/female ratio of 2:1. The minimum age was 2 months and the maximum age was 15 years. Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) was the most predominant group which accounted for 73 cases (90%) of all sarcomas seen. Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) was the most common STS, it accounted for 65 cases (89%) of the STS and 80% of all the sarcomas. This is followed by Kaposi Sarcoma (KS) accounting for 6.9% of STS. There were 8 cases of Osteosarcoma which accounted for 10% of all the sarcomas. Embryonal RMS predominated in the very young children while all other sarcomas affected the older children. Extremities were the sites of predilection for most of the sarcomas (36%). Seventeen (17) cases of the RMS were of superior prognostic group, 34 (54%) were of intermediate prognostic group while 24 cases (37%) were of poor prognostic group.

CONCLUSION

Childhood sarcomas are common in our environment and RMS is the single most common sarcoma while the non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcomas (NRSTS) are rare.

The prognosis of osteosarcoma occurring as second malignancy of childhood cancers may be favorable: experience of two cancer centers in Japan

BACKGROUND

Osteosarcoma as second malignancy of childhood cancers rarely occurs, and its clinical characteristics are unclear.

METHODS

Patients with osteosarcoma occurring as second malignancy of childhood cancers were retrospectively surveyed.

RESULTS

Of 323 patients with osteosarcoma registered in the database, 10 (3.1%) had a past history of childhood cancers. The mean age at the onset of the first childhood cancer was 2.7 years, and the diagnosis of the first childhood cancer was adrenocortical carcinoma, malignant teratoma, ovarian carcinoma, Ewing's sarcoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma in 1 patient each, and retinoblastoma in 5 patients. Osteosarcoma as second malignancy occurred 14.6 years after the first childhood cancer on average. Seven patients were alive and 3 died. In 1 patient, the cause of death was related to a complication of treatment for the first childhood cancer. Except for this patient, 7 (77.8%) of 9 patients survived with no disease (mean follow-up period: 10.9 years).

CONCLUSIONS

Attention should be paid to complications of treatment for the first childhood cancer in the treatment for osteosarcoma occurring as second malignancy. The prognosis of osteosarcoma as second malignancy of childhood cancers may be more favorable than that of conventional osteosarcoma.