Chondrosarcoma of bone rarely occurs in children. This report analyzes the clinicopathologic features in a series of 47 patients with conventional chondrosarcoma who were less than 17 years of age. Of the 47 cases, 14 were from the Mayo Clinic files, and 33 were from our consultation files. Most of the lesions occurred in the trunk and upper ends of the long bones, with the humerus being the most frequent skeletal site. Twelve of the 47 tumors were secondary. The radiographic findings were the same as those seen in adult chondrosarcoma. Pathologically, the tumors were low grade. En bloc resection is the treatment of choice because of the high incidence of local recurrence with lesser surgical margins. Prognosis in childhood chondrosarcoma is no different from that in adult chondrosarcoma. None of the patients with follow-up data had metastasis. Cancer 66:1641-1648,1990.
HONDROSARCOMA is primarily a tumor Of adult-C hood, presenting most often in patients who are in the third to seventh decade of life. Its occurrence in children is rare. Although several studies describe the clinicopathologic features and behavior of chondrosarcoma in general,',2 only a few reports specifically discuss chondrosarcoma occurring in patients less than 20 years of age.3-9 Some of these studies indicate that the prognosis is worse for children than for adults. This study reviews 47 cases of chondrosarcoma in patients less than 17 years of age and compares the findings with those in previous reports.
Materials and Methods
This series of 47 cases of conventional chondrosarcoma in patients less than 17 years of age includes 14 cases from the Mayo Clinic files and 33 from our consultation files. Excluded from the study were cases of chondrosarcoma variants and of chondrosarcomas involving the skull and facial bones. Sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin were available for review in all 47 cases.
Fifty-three cases were originally reviewed. The lesions were reclassified as chondroblastic osteosarcoma in two