Methods

Between 1987 and 1999 treatment of stage IIIB osteosarcoma included induction chemotherapy (CHT) which consisted in 3-5 cycles of intra-arterial doxorubicin (DOX) 75 mg/m2 or cis-platin (CDDP) 120 mg/m2, surgery or definitive local radiation therapy (RT) for primary and adjuvant CHT with DOX, CDDP or HDMTX. Thirty nine patients were included in this protocol. Since 2000 a more intensive induction CHT protocol was adopted. It consisted in 4 cycles of DOX 90 mg/m2 +CDDP 120 mg/m2 (24 patients) or DOX 60 mg/m2 +CDDP 120 mg/m2+Ifosfamide (IFO) 6 g/m2 (7 patients). Adjuvant chemotherapy included DOX, CDDP, IFO or VP-16. Residual lung deposits were removed at the end of adjuvant treatment.