Gaetano Bacci

Prognostic factors for osteosarcoma of the extremity treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy: 15-year experience in 789 patients treated at a single institution.

The evaluation variables influencing systemic and local recurrence and final outcome are extremely important in defining risk‐adapted treatments for patients with nonmetastatic osteosarcoma of the extremity.

Primary chemotherapy and delayed surgery for nonmetastatic osteosarcoma of the extremities. Results in 164 patients preoperatively treated with high doses of methotrexate followed by cisplatin and doxorubicin

Background. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is the most accepted treatment for localized osteosarcoma. This has led to a great improvement in limb‐sparing surgery and in disease‐free survival. Patients with a good response to preoperative chemotherapy showed a higher disease‐free survival rate. Current studies examine the possibility of patients whose limbs could be rescued with a poor necrosis and a reduction of the side effects related to aggressive treatments.

High-Dose Methotrexate-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Patients with Osteosarcoma: Incidence, Treatment, and Outcome

High‐dose methotrexate (HDMTX)‐induced renal dysfunction can be life threatening, because it delays methotrexate (MTX) excretion, thereby exacerbating the other toxicities of MTX. HDMTX‐induced nephrotoxicity has been managed with high‐dose leucovorin, dialysis‐based methods of MTX removal, thymidine, and with the recombinant enzyme, carboxypeptidase‐G2 (CPDG2), which cleaves MTX to inactive metabolites. The objectives of the current study were to estimate the current incidence of HDMTX‐induced renal dysfunction in patients with osteosarcoma and to compare the efficacy and recovery of renal function for dialysis‐based methods of MTX removal with treatment using CPDG2.

Italian cooperative study for the treatment of children and young adults with localized Ewing sarcoma of bone a preliminary report of 6 years of experience

In 1991, the Italian Association for Pediatric Hematology‐Oncology and the National Council of Research (CNR) initiated an Italian Cooperative Study (SE 91‐CNR Protocol) with the main objective of improving the overall survival (SUR) and the event free survival (EFS) of children and young adults with localized Ewing sarcoma and primitive neuroectodermal tumors of bone compared with a previous study (IOR/Ew2 Protocol).

Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for High-Grade Central Osteosarcoma of the Extremity Histologic Response to Preoperative Chemotherapy Correlates with Histologic Subtype of the Tumor

In primary central high‐grade osteosarcoma, a number of distinct subtypes have been identified, but little is known about the response to chemotherapy.

Resection of recurrent pulmonary metastases in patients with osteosarcoma

Surgical resection of lung metastases is widely accepted in osteosarcoma patients. Few data exist on treatment of recurrent pulmonary metastases. The authors of the current study retrospectively analyzed patients with osteosarcoma who received surgery for recurrent lung metastases.

Prognostic significance of serum alkaline phosphatase measurements in patients with osteosarcoma treated with adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Background. It is known that many patients with osteosarcoma have high serum alkaline phosphatase (SAP) levels. The prognostic significance of this finding, however, is still controversial.

Osteogenic sarcoma of the extremity with detectable lung metastases at presentation

In the past 20 years, it has been demonstrated that the combination of surgery and chemotherapy improves the prognosis for patients with osteosarcoma of the extremity without detectable metastases at presentation. By contrast, the efficacy of chemotherapy coupled with aggressive surgery has not yet been well established for patients with metastatic disease at diagnosis. The current study evaluates the efficacy of chemotherapy associated with simultaneous surgery of primary and metastatic lesions in patients presenting with osteosarcoma of the extremity with lung metastases.

Influence of methotrexate dose intensity on outcome of patients with high grade osteogenic osteosarcoma. Analysis of the literature.

The authors surveyed the published clinical trial literature on the subject of localized high grade osteosarcoma in order to develop new hypotheses dealing with drug‐dose combinations in the treatment of this disease.

Evaluation of P-glycoprotein, HER-2/ErbB-2, p53, and Bcl-2 in primary tumor and metachronous lung metastases in patients with high-grade osteosarcoma

Investigation of the relation between primary tumor and metastatic disease is necessary for the identification of predictive factors for postrecurrence survival (PRS) in patients with recurrent osteosarcoma.