Incidence, treatment and survival of paediatric patients with bone sarcomas in Finland from 1991 to 2005

AIM: Our aims were to establish the 10-year overall and event-free survival rates among children and adolescents with bone sarcomas in Finland, estimate their respective incidences, evaluate the treatment given and describe the key prognostic factors. METHODS: We included 88 patients of <18 years of age diagnosed with a bone sarcoma during 1991-2005 in this retrospective, nationwide and population-based study. Median follow-up time was 12.2 years (range 5.8-20.3 years) for surviving patients. RESULTS: The overall incidence among children and adolescents was 5.1 per million: 3.6 for osteosarcoma, 1.2 for Ewing's sarcoma and 0.3 for chondrosarcoma. The 10-year event-free and overall survival of those with a localised disease at diagnosis was 69% and 82%, respectively. The overall 10-year survival of those with a metastatic disease at diagnosis was 47%. Prognostic factors for localised disease included an axial versus peripheral primary tumour site in Ewing's sarcoma (p = 0.022) and age at diagnosis in osteosarcoma (p = 0.027). CONCLUSION: The 10-year overall survival of children and adolescents diagnosed with a bone sarcoma in Finland during 1991 to 2005 was very good, at 82% if the disease was localised at diagnosis and 47% if it was metastatic at diagnosis.