The therapy of osteosarcoma by intraarterial cis-platinum and limb preservation

Intraarterial infusion of cis-platinum was evaluated in 14 patients with primary osteosarcoma because the method delivers a higher dose to the neoplasm without increasing systemic toxicity. The tumor response was evaluated by clinical examination, conventional radiography, angiography, and histopathologic examination. Eight (57%) of the 14 patients responded. Among the eight responders, four patients with medullary osteosarcoma of the extremities were treated by limb salvage operation followed by insertion of an endoprosthesis to preserve limb function. The responders are all alive with a median follow-up period of 17.5 months; six of them have no evaluable disease. The six failures died of disease after median survival of 6.5 months. Intraarterial cis-platinum infusion proved to be an effective approach in treating osteosarcoma and created the opportunity for limb salvage.