Clinicopathologic study of sacrococcygeal chordoma.

Chordoma involving the sacrum is a rare neoplasm. Between 1952 and 1979, 63 patients underwent surgical treatment at the Mayo Clinic. Most of the patients were treated by en bloc excision by a posterior approach.

Clear cell chondrosarcoma of bone. Observations in 47 cases.

Clear cell chondrosarcoma of bone, a low-grade malignant tumor, frequently presents diagnostic difficulties. Its clinical, roentgenographic, and pathologic characteristics separate it from conventional chondrosarcoma and, more importantly, from several benign bone tumors with which it is often confused. This report analyzes 47 cases seen at the Mayo Clinic and in consultation.

High-grade surface osteosarcomas.

Nine patients (seven males and two females) had high-grade, ordinary-type osteosarcomas that were juxtacortically located. The ages of these patients ranged from 9 to 62 years at the time of diagnosis. The roentgenographic appearance of these tumors occasionally is similar to that of periosteal osteosarcomas.

Metastases from histologically benign giant-cell tumor of bone.

Metastasis from a giant-cell tumor of bone that is histologically benign has become a recognized entity. To date, thirty-one pathologically proved cases have been reported in the world literature. To this, we add eight cases from our experience of more than 400 cases of histologically benign giant-cell tumor of bone.

Dedifferentiated parosteal osteosarcoma.

Parosteal osteosarcoma is an uncommon malignant tumor of bone, and in a review of Mayo Clinic records we identified eleven cases of so-called dedifferentiated parosteal osteosarcoma. Ten of the eleven patients had had a long history of treatment for multiple recurrences of the tumor as a low-grade parosteal osteosarcoma and then for a definite recurrence as a high-grade undifferentiated osteosarcoma. The prognosis in this group of patients was similar to that in patients with conventional osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma of the jaw.

The records of 66 patients with osteosarcoma of the jaw were reviewed. The ages of the 42 males and 24 females ranged from 12 to 79 years (mean, 34.2 years).

Osteosarcoma of extragnathic craniofacial bones.

Osteosarcomas of extragnathic craniofacial bones--those bones of the skull excepting the jaw bones--are rare lesions, constituting fewer than 2% of all osteosarcomas. In our series of 21 patients (12 male and 9 female), the ages ranged from 6 to 77 years, and 10 patients were in the third or fourth decade of life. At least six patients had predisposing conditions: Paget's disease of bone in three and prior regional irradiation in three.

Bone sarcomas in Paget disease.

The most serious complication of Paget disease is the development of sarcoma. Forty-one cases of bone sarcoma in Paget disease, which represented our institution's entire experience, were reviewed. The relative frequency of sarcomatous degeneration was 0.

Langerhans' cell granulomatosis (histiocytosis X) of bone in adults.

Langerhans' cell granulomatosis (LCG) (histiocytosis X) of bone is generally considered a childhood disease. A series of 61 adult patients who presented with histologically confirmed skeletal disease was studied. The male-to-female ratio was 2.

Sarcomas of the lung.

Of 18 patients with primary sarcoma of the lung, 10 were women and 8 were men whose ages ranged from 22 to 77 years; 6 patients were in the sixth decade of life. Nine patients had no symptoms referable to the tumor. When present, symptoms were cough, chest pain, or dyspnea.

Chondrosarcoma arising in osteochondroma.

Secondary chondrosarcomas are rare. An analysis of 75 cases of chondrosarcomas secondary to osteochondroma (42 lesions were from the Mayo Clinic files and 33 were from consultation files) revealed that 40 of the patients had single exostosis and 35 had multiple lesions. More males than females were affected, and most of the patients were age 20 to 40 years.

Hemangioendothelial sarcoma of bone.

Hemangioendothelial sarcoma of bone is a rare tumor. A series of 112 cases was studied to define the clinical and pathologic features of this disease. Of the various histologic features evaluated to define the ones most significant prognostically, the histologic grade of the lesions was the single feature that correlated best with disease-free survival.