The pattern of osteosarcoma in southern part of Iraq

الملخص EN

Osteosarcoma is a malignant tumor of mesenchymal cells characterized by the direct formation of bone or osteoid tissue by the proliferating malignant tumor cells.

Grading of tumor is a good prognostic indicator.

It constitutes a basic factor of the current enneking osteosarcoma staging system.

The detection and identification of markers able to differentiate a high from a low malignant osteosarcoma which would substantially help the diagnosis, the prognosis and consequently the therapeutic approach of these tumors.

This study is aimed to determine: the contribution of osteosarcoma to the total number of the malignant bone tumors registered in basrah during the period of the study.

The various histological subtypes and grades of osteosarcoma.

A total number of thirty-seven cases of osteosarcoma diagnosed during the period 2000-2004 inclusive were collected from private and governmental hospital histopathological labrotaries in basrah province.

Clinical data concerning the age, sex, clinical presentations, radiological features and gross appearance of affected bone were evaluated.

Histological sections of 25 out of 37 cases, were collected, re-evaluated and grades.

Osteosarcoma was the most common primary malignant tumor of bone classified according to the tumor matrix into histological subtypes and analyzed for histological accounting for 35.92% of the primary malignant and 20.55% of the total malignant bone tumors.

Of these 37 osteosarcoma cases, 35 (94.59%) were intramedullary and 2 (5.40%) were parosteal surface osteosarcoma.

the male to female ratio was 1.1:1.

The second decade was the most common age group of occurrence accounting for 23 out of 37 cases (62.2%).

the main presenting clinical features were painless swelling recorded in 51.4%.

The distal end femur, proximal end tibia and proximal end humerus were the most common sites of affection accounting for 27.02%, 32.43%, 16.21% respectively.

The most common subtypes of osteosarcoma was osteoblastic (52%) followed by fibroblastic (osteosarcoma 24%).

And chondroblastic (20%); while telangiectatic subtypes was rare (4%).

Parosteal osteosarcoma was a rare variant in our locality and other variants were not diagnosed during the period of the study.

The majority of osteosarcoma cases (76%) were of grade iii, followed by grade ii (16%) and grade i (8%).