TUMOURS AND TUMOUR-LIKE LESIONS OF BONE AND SOFT TISSUE IN FOOT AND ANKLE: RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF 80 CASES

Aim. Bone and soft tissue (ST) tumours (T) in foot and ankle are reported as rare. Some authors described that some histotype are correlated with sex and age. The purpose of this study was to evaluate this hypothesis in an Italian Regional Referral Centre for sarcomas. Methods. Eighty patients were surgically treated for bone and ST lesions between 1999 and 2009 at the Orthopaedic Oncological and Reconstructive Unit of CTO Hospital, Turin, Italy. Forty-one females, 39 males, mean age 40 years. Bone lesions were 48.75% and ST 51.25%; a total of 26.25% were malignant tumours. Correlation among histotype, age, sex and site were evaluated. Results. A total of 24 histotypes were identified. Among bone lesions, 51% were giant cell tumours, cyst and aneurismal cyst of bone; histotypes of ST lesions were more eterogeneous. 29.26% of patients with a sarcoma were 19-49 years old and 32.14% were > 50 year-old. Distribution for age was statistically significant (P=0.03). Bone tumours were more frequent in males, whereas the STT in females, but no statistical difference was present. ST lesions were more frequent in the forefoot, whereas the bone tumours in the ankle. Discussion. Our data confirmed that chondrosarcoma, chondroma, bone cysts and ST lipoma are correlated with site, age and sex. In comparison to literature, Ewing sarcoma and fibrousarcoma had different correlation, and malignant tumours were more frequent than benign lesions due to the treatment in a Referral Centre. Multicentric prospective studies are mandatory in order to help the clinician in the everyday work.