[A comparison of serum concentrations of biochemical bone turnover markers in patients with osteosarcoma with good and poor prognosis].

Unlabelled: Osteosarcoma is a primary malignant bone tumor, whose peak incidence occurs in the second decade of life during the adolescent growth spurt. Complex oncological treatment consisted of chemotherapy combined with surgery which substantially increased the cure rate of patients with osteosarcoma, but it is very important to identify patients with poor prognosis and to treat them with more aggressive therapy.

The Aim Of This Study: To assess serum biochemical bone turnover markers as prognostic indicators in patients with osteosarcoma.

Material And Methods: We studied 55 patients from age 5 to 20 years with diagnosed osteosarcoma treated at the Institute of Mother and Child in Warsaw. The studied group was divided into 2 subgroups consisted of 27 patients with favorable (disease remission) and 28 patients with unfavorable (disease progression) prognosis. Venous blood was collected from patients in the morning hours at time of diagnosis, during anticancer treatment and after completion of treatment. Serum osteocalcin (OC), bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP) and C-terminal cross-linking telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) were analyzed by immunoenzymatic methods.

Results: At time of diagnosis, in patients with unfavorable prognosis concentration of bone formation markers were higher (OC by 30% and BALP by 60%) than in those with good prognosis, however, CTX level was similar in both groups of patients. During chemotherapy in patients with poor prognosis we observed higher levels of bone turnover markers in comparison to subjects with favorable prognosis. After the completion of therapy, in patients with progression median values of bone formation markers were over twofold and bone resorption marker about 50% higher as compared to patients with remission of disease. These differences were statistically significant at p < 0.05 for OC, p < 0.001 for BALP and p < 0.01 for CTX.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that bone turnover markers, especially bone alkaline phosphatise may be useful in the monitoring and in the assessment of the efficacy of therapy in children with osteosarcoma. Higher rates of bone formation and resorption during treatment and after its completion are associated with unfavorable prognosis and may indicate progression of disease.