Chondrosarcoma of bone: Functional outcome and quality of life

Background and Objectives: Outcome studies of chondrosarcoma have so far only reported oncological and functional results. Quality-of-life assessment becomes more important because more long-term survival after treatment of malignant diseases occur. The objective of this study is to analyze functional outcome and quality of life. Methods: Functional evaluation of the patients was carried out according to the MSTS functional scoring system. For assessment of quality of life, questionnaires were used. Results: Response of the questionnaires sent to 45 disease-free patients was 84%. The mean functional score of these 38 patients was 74% (20-100%). Best functional results were seen after bone graft reconstruction and curettage and cryosurgery with reconstruction. Quality-of-life analysis revealed a mean global health status of 75 (66-84). Furthermore, 24% of the patients experienced severe fatigue. Patients reported more problems with regard to physical functioning and sleep in comparison with healthy controls. No correlation was found between global health status scores and functional scores. Conclusions: Functional scores depend on the type of treatment with best results after curettage and cryosurgery. Quality-of-life analysis reveals problems on several domains, including fatigue, physical functioning and sleep. (C) 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.