Introduction
- Account for <10% of primary bone tumors.
- Most commonly affect axial skeleton, ie flat bones.
- Arise from cartilage - malignant, metastasizing primarily to lung.
- Incidence: mostly axial skeleton of large (not giant) breeds.
- Signs : lameness, swelling +/- pain.
- Diagnosis : radiography, histopathology.
- Treatment : limb amputation/bone resection.
- Prognosis : good for low-grade tumors following early treatment; poor for high-grade tumors of long bones (slower growing and lower metastatic rate than osteosarcoma
).
Diagnosis
Clinical signs
- Swelling at tumor site, may be painful.
- Muffled lung sounds (pleural effusion).
Diagnosis
Differential diagnosis
- Other primary bone tumors .
- Secondary bone tumors .
- Osteomyelitis .
- Abscess.
- Trauma.
Sequelae
Prognosis
- Good following early treatment of low-grade tumor.
- Guarded/poor where high-grade tumor.
- Median survival 1.5 years after amputation.
- Nasal tumors may be more difficult to resect and therefore more likely to recur.
Expected response to treatment
- Metastasis and local recurrence are possible after surgical treatment.
Reasons for treatment failure
- Metastasis prior to presentation.
- Treatment delayed.
- High-grade tumor not treated radically.
Sources
Publications
Refereed papers
- Davidson J R (1995) Canine and feline chondrosarcoma. Comp Cont Educ 17 (9), 1109-1114.
- Pupovitch C A, Weinstein M J, Goldschmidt M H & Shafer P S (1994) Chondrosarcoma - a retrospective study of 97 dogs (1987-1990) JAAHA 30 , 81-85.
