Clinical Feature and Prognostic Factors for Repeatedly Recurrent Spinal Chondrosarcoma: A Retrospective Study of 49 Patients in One Single Institution.

Abstract Background: To investigate the clinical feature in prognostic prediction of repeatedly recurrent spinal chondrosarcoma (RRSC). The purpose of this study was to illustrate the clinical parameters of RRSC and to discuss the prognostic factors by statistical analysis. Methods: Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate independent prognostic factors for recurrence and death of patients with RRSC. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated by Kaplan-Meier curve, and differences were analyzed by log-rank test. Factors with P < 0.1 extracted by univariate analysis were subjected to multivariate analysis by Cox regression analysis. P < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Included in this study were 49 patients with RRSC who were followed up by a mean of 31.7 months (median, 25 months; range, 5-93 months). Local recurrence was detected in 33 patients, with death in 28 patients. The final statistical analysis indicated that wide surgical margin (> 4 mm) was the most favorable prognostic factor for both recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Meanwhile, fewer number of recurrences (NOR) was in favor of RFS, and lower pathological grade was a significant favorable prognostic factor for OS. Conclusion: Wide surgical margin should be considered in predicting the prognosis of RRSC, including RFS as well as OS. NOR was significant prognostic indicator for RFS, and pathological grading was significantly associated with OS.