Which factors affect survival in patients with upper limb osteosarcoma?

Aim: The purpose of this study was to identify patient-, facility-, disease-, and treatment-specific characteristics that increase mortality in patients with upper limb osteosarcoma. Patients and Methods: The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was queried for bone cancer. With Cox regression, the demographic, facility, tumor-specific and treatment characteristics were analyzed to identify factors that increased mortality. Results: Cox regression model showed that patients older than 40 years had a significantly higher likelihood of dying from upper limb osteosarcoma than those aged 0-14 years [hazard ratio (HR)=4.12, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.261-7.508]. Patients with an income of $38,000-47,999 (HR=3.335, 95%CI=1.694-657) or less than $38,000 (HR=2.41, 95%CI=1.098-5.288) were also at greater risk of dying from their tumor. Patients who received radiation therapy (HR=2.457, 95%CI=1.056-5.717) had a higher likelihood of dying than patients who did not undergo this therapy. Conclusion: Age, gender, income, education, stage at diagnosis, radiation therapy and type of surgery seem to increase mortality from upper limb osteosarcoma.