Assessment of prognostic factors in surgical treatment for the pulmonary metastasis of osteosarcoma based on results of 17 patients

Seventeen cases with surgical treatment for pulmonary metastases of osteosarcomas have been experienced for past 20 years in our institute. Disease free intervals, tumor doubling time, the number of metastatic lesions, the size of metastatic lesions, pathological features on nuclear findings were assessed in relation to their prognosis. These parameters were concluded to have no significant relations to the survival outcomes after the surgery for pulmonary lesions except for the number of metastatic lesions less than 20 in total which is likely to be associated with long survivals, supporting previous reports on the resectability of pulmonary metastatic lesions as an only reliable prognostic indicator. It was also stressed from our experience that the meticulous follow-up after each surgery for both primary and metastatic lesions is absolutely necessary for the early detection of recurrent pulmonary lesions in order not to overlook curable cases with aggressive treatment.