Five-year Survival of Osteosarcoma Patients in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM): An Eleven Year Review

According to World Health Organization (WHO), the estimated annual incidence of osteosarcoma was approximately four to five per million. Differences in demography, culture and belief may give different results in survival for Malaysian compared to other countries. The objective of this study was to determine the five-year survival of osteosarcoma patients treated at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). This was a retrospective record review study involving 127 osteosarcoma patients. The recruitment phase of the participants began from 1^st August 1995 till 31^st July 2006 (11 years) and additional follow up period of twelve months, from ₁st August 2006 till 31^st July 2007. Patient's survival status was obtained from the medical record as well as contacting their residences by phone call or by home visit with their consent. The Kaplan-Meier was used in statistical analysis. The comparison of survival times in all categorical independent variables groups was done by using log-rank test. The overall median survival time was 47.77 months and overall five-year survival was 48.94% (95% CI: 39.4, 57.8). In type of chemotherapy, neoadjuvant with adjuvant chemotherapy show higher survival rate (70.6%). In type of surgery group, survival rate for limb salvage was the highest (80.5%). As the conclusion, five-year survival for osteosarcoma patients treated was acceptably low.