BACKGROUND Adequate prediction of survival is important in deciding on treatment for patients with symptomatic spinal metastases. The authors reviewed 342 patients with painful spinal metastases without neurologic impairment who were treated conservatively within a large, prospectively randomized radiotherapy trial. Response to radiotherapy and prognostic factors for survival were studied. METHODS The data base of the Dutch Bone Metastasis Study was used. Response to treatment and prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) were studied using a Cox regression model. A scoring system was developed to predict OS. RESULTS Responses were noted in 73% of patients. In 3% of patients, spinal cord compression was reported a mean of 3.5 months after randomization. The median OS was 7 months, and significant predictors for survival were Karnofsky performance score, primary tumor (multivariate analysis; both P < 0.001), and the absence of visceral metastases (multivariate analysis; P = 0.02). A scoring system based on these predictors was developed, and 34% of patients were in Group A (median OS = 3.0 months), 48% of patients were in Group B (median OS = 9.0 months), and 18% of patients were in Group C (median OS = 18.7 months). Group C was comprised of patients with breast carcinoma, a good performance, and no visceral metastases. CONCLUSIONS Most patients with spinal metastases have a limited life expectancy and should be treated with caution regarding surgical procedures. Radiotherapy is a safe and effective, noninvasive treatment modality for pain. The new scoring system will enable physicians to select patients who may survive long enough to benefit from more radical treatment. Cancer 2005. © 2004 American Cancer Society.

Chordomas are rare, malignant bone tumors of the skull-base and axial skeleton. Until recently, there was no consensus among experts regarding appropriate clinical management of chordoma, resulting in inconsistent care and suboptimal outcomes for many patients. To address this shortcoming, the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the Chordoma Foundation, the global chordoma patient advocacy group, convened a multi-disciplinary group of chordoma specialists to define by consensus evidence-based best practices for the optimal approach to chordoma. In January 2015, the first recommendations of this group were published, covering the management of primary and metastatic chordomas. Additional evidence and further discussion were needed to develop recommendations about the management of local-regional failures. Thus, ESMO and CF convened a second consensus group meeting in November 2015 to address the treatment of locally relapsed chordoma. This meeting involved over 60 specialists from Europe, the United States and Japan with expertise in treatment of patients with chordoma. The consensus achieved during that meeting is the subject of the present publication and complements the recommendations of the first position paper.

BackgroundSurgical resection with curative intent for giant cell tumor of bone (GCTB) may be associated with severe morbidity. This interim analysis evaluated reduction in surgical invasiveness after denosumab treatment in patients with resectable GCTB.MethodsPatients with primary or recurrent GCTB, for whom the initially planned surgery was associated with functional compromise or morbidity, received denosumab 120 mg subcutaneously every 4 weeks (additional doses on days 8 and 15 of the first cycle). Planned and actual GCTB-related surgical procedures before and after denosumab treatment were reported. Patients were followed for surgical outcome, adverse events, and recurrence following resection.ResultsOverall, 222 patients were evaluable for surgical downstaging (54 % were women; median age 34 years). Lesions (67 % primary and 33 % recurrent) were located in the axial (15 %) and appendicular skeleton (85 %). At the data cutoff date, most patients had not yet undergone surgery (n = 106; 48 %) or had a less morbid procedure (n = 84; 38 %) than originally planned. Median (interquartile range) time on denosumab was 19.5 (12.4–28.6) months for the 106 patients who had not undergone surgery and were continuing on monthly denosumab. Native joint preservation was 96 % (n = 24/25) for patients with planned joint/prosthesis replacement and 86 % (n = 30/35) for patients with planned joint resection/fusion. Of the 116 patients who had surgery (median postsurgical follow-up 13.0 [8.5–17.9] months), local recurrence occurred in 17 (15 %) patients.ConclusionFor patients with resectable GCTB, neoadjuvant denosumab therapy resulted in beneficial surgical downstaging, including either no surgery or a less morbid surgical procedure.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1245/s10434-015-4634-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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