Serum tumor markers in pediatric osteosarcoma: a summary review.

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary high-grade bone tumor in both adolescents and children. Early tumor detection is key to ensuring effective treatment. Serum marker discovery and validation for pediatric osteosarcoma has accelerated in recent years, coincident with an evolving understanding of molecules and their complex interactions, and the compelling need for improved pediatric osteosarcoma outcome measures in clinical trials. This review gives a short overview of serological markers for pediatric osteosarcoma, and highlights advances in pediatric osteosarcoma-related marker research within the past year. Studies in the past year involving serum markers in patients with pediatric osteosarcoma can be assigned to one of four categories, i.e., new approaches and new markers, exploratory studies in specialized disease subsets, large cross-sectional validation studies, and longitudinal studies, with and without an intervention.Most of the studies have examined the association of a serum marker with some aspect of the natural history of pediatric osteosarcoma. As illustrated by the many studies reviewed, several serum markers are emerging that show a credible association with disease modification. The expanding pool of informative osteosarcoma-related markers is expected to impact development of therapeutics for pediatric osteosarcoma positively and, it is hoped, ultimately clinical care. Combinations of serum markers of natural immunity, thyroid hormone homeostasis, and bone tumorigenesis may be undertaken together in patients with pediatric osteosarcoma. These serum markers in combination may do better. The potential effect of an intrinsic dynamic balance of tumor angiogenesis residing within a single hormone (tri-iodothyronine) is an attractive concept for regulation of vascularization in pediatric osteosarcoma.

[Frequency of bone neoplasms in children]. / Frecuencia de neoplasias óseas en niños.

INTRODUCTION: Pediatric age is the group mainly affected by bone tumors. The objectives of this work were: (1) To determine which are the bone tumors and pseudotumoral lesions more frequent in the group of age from 0 to 14 years; (2) To determine if there are differences in the frequency of the tumors and pseudotumoral lesions between different subgroups and (3) To determine if there is any difference in the frequency of the different tumors according to gender. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study based on the Pathology files of the National Institute of Rehabilitation. Inclusion criteria were: all cases between January 2000 and December 2006 diagnosed by hystopathological means as bone tumor or pseudotumoral lesion, with an age of presentation between 0 to 14 years were included. RESULTS: Frequency of bone tumors and pseudotumoral lesions in this series were: osteocondroma (44%), osteosarcoma (15.2%), fibrous dysplasia (10.4%) and encondroma (8.8%). We observed differences in the bone tumors or pseudotumor-like lesions frequency between the 3 subgroups of age studied.

[Bone tumor frequency in adults and elderly]. / Frecuencia de neoplasias óseas en adultos maduros y adultos mayores.

INTRODUCTION: We consider of great importance knowing the types of bone tumors and tumor-like lesions in adults and the elderly, which are increasing in proportion in our country. OBJECTIVES: (1) To analyze the frequency of bone tumors and tumor-like lesions in adults and elderly; (2) to determine any difference between these two groups; (3) and to analyze the most frequent sites of involvement. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study that consisted in a retrolective review of all cases classified as a bone tumor or a tumorlike condition from year 2000-2006. We included all patients that presented with a bone tumor or tumor-like condition above 40 years-old. RESULTS: The most frequent diagnoses in patients between 40 and 60 years-old were plasmocytoma/myeloma (19.4%); giant cell tumor (14.1%) and metastases (12.3%). In patients older than 60 years, prevalence of bone tumor and tumor-like lesion was respectively: metastases (37.2%); plasmocytoma/myeloma (11.8%) and malignant fibrous histiocytoma (6.7%). Several differences were observed between these two groups.

[Prevalence of bone neoplasms in adolescents and young adults]. / Frecuencia de neoplasias óseas en adolescentes y adultos jóvenes.

INTRODUCTION: The objectives of this work were: (1) To determine the prevalence of bone neoplasms and pseudoneoplasms lesions in a group of adolescents (15 to 19 years), (2) To determine the more frequent bone neoplasms and pseudoneoplasms lesions in a group of young adults (29 to 39 years), (3) To determine if there are differences in the frequency of bone neoplasms and pseudoneoplasms lesions between the group of adolescents and the group of young adults and (4) To determine if there is any difference according to gender. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a descriptive, cross-sectional study that consisted in the review of the Pathology Department files in the National Institute of Rehabilitation. We included all patients with a histopathologic diagnosis of bone neoplasms or pseudoneoplasms lesion from January 2000 to December 2006 within the age of presentation from 15 to 19 or 20 to 39 years. RESULTS: The five more frequent bone neoplasms and pseudoneoplasms lesions in adolescents were osteochondroma, osteosarcoma, chondroblastoma, non-ossifying fibroma and aneurysmal bone cyst. In young adults the five more frequent were: giant cell neoplasm, osteosarcoma, osteochondroma, fibrous dysplasia and enchondroma.

[Epidemiology of bone and soft-part tumors of the foot and knee]. / Epidemiología de tumores óseos y partes blandas del pie y tobillo.

DESIGN: Report of cases. OBJECTIVE: Review of the cases in a period of 10 years with bone and soft tumors in foot and ankle, to knowing epidemilogical, clinic and patologic anatomy parameters to describe the behavior. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Review of 166 cases from 1991 to 2000 and been analyze with descriptive statistic, association measurment for inside stratum, with odds ratio, hipótesis test with chi square for qualitative date and t to Student for quantitative date. RESULTS: 166 patients within 2 years to 78 years old, 81 with bone tumors and 79 with soft tumors, mostly benign, the most frequent was in the soft tissue ganglion and oseal benign exostosis in bone, 6 different malignant tumors, the principal affected zone were the toes, as a difference to literature, the most affected age group was 10 to 20 years followed to the 30 to 40 years old, we report 42 different patological diagnostics results to soft tissue and osseous tissue. CONCLUSION: clinical features is not a useful parameter to differentiate between malign or benign tumors and does not allow to establish the biological behavior, we propose the diagnostic algorithm that includes the intentional clinical probe, comparative X-ray in three projections with soft technique, in suspicion to malignant lesion may require CT scan, MRI, osseous scan and finally biopsy which will improve the final outcome.