Chondrosarcoma surgery
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Chondrosarcoma Microchapters |
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Diagnosis |
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Treatment |
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Case Studies |
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Chondrosarcoma surgery On the Web |
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American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Chondrosarcoma surgery |
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Risk calculators and risk factors for Chondrosarcoma surgery |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1];Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Suveenkrishna Pothuru, M.B,B.S. [2]
Overview
The predominant therapy for chondrosarcoma is surgical resection. Adjunctive chemotherapy and radiation may be required.
Surgery
Because chondrosarcoma affects different parts of the body, the type of treatment depends on the size, location, and grade of the tumor. Musculoskeletal tumor Specialists or Orthopedic Oncologists are the most qualified to treat chondrosarcoma, unless it is located in the skull, spine, or chest cavity, in which case, a Neurosurgeon or Thoracic surgeon experienced with sarcomas would be needed.
- Surgery is the main form of treatment for chondrosarcoma.
- Treatment depends on the location of the disease and the aggressiveness of the tumors [3]. Often, a limb-sparing operation can be performed[4], however in some cases amputation is unavoidable.
- Amputation of the arm, leg, jaw, or half of the pelvis (called a hemipelvectomy) may be necessary in some cases.
- There are two kinds of hemipelvectomy (internal and external):
- External hemipelvectomy is removal of that half of the pelvis with the amputation of the leg. It is also called the hindquarter amputation.
- Internal hemipelvectomy is removal of that half of the pelvis, but the leg is left intact.
- Even more rare are chondrosarcoma located in the skull base, spine, rib cage, or larynx. Complete surgical ablation is the treatment, but sometimes this is difficult. Proton therapy Radiation can be useful in these rare locations to make surgery more effective.
- Follow up scans are extremely important for chondrosarcoma to make sure there has been no recurrence or metastasis, which usually occurs in the lungs. Unlike other cancers, chondrosarcoma can return many years later.