Purpose: To determine the clinical and functional outcomes of children unde
rgoing limb-sparing therapy for extremity sarcomas,
Methods and Materials: We retrospectively reviewed 30 patients, age less th
an or equal to 21 years, who were treated between 1979 and 1998 with extern
al beam radiotherapy as a component of limb-spacing therapy for primary sar
comas of the extremity at UCSF. Included were patients for whom complete fo
llow-up and functional outcome assessments were available. We assessed the
patterns of failure, overall survival, disease-free survival, local control
, and limb function.
Results: At a median follow-up of 3 gears, 12 of the 30 patients recurred:
3 locally, 8 distantly, and 1 with synchronous local and distant disease as
site of first progression, Eighteen patients were alive with no evidence o
f disease, The median overall survival was 10 years, with a median disease-
free survival of 8 years. Functional outcome assessment revealed 15 patient
s retained excellent, 12 good, 1 fair, and 2 poor limb function.
Conclusion: in pediatric patients receiving limb-sparing therapy, 90% maint
ained excellent or good limb function without compromising survival, demons
trating the validity of limb preservation in children with extremity sarcom
as, (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc.