Osteosarcoma and causes of death: A report of 1520 deceased patients from the Cooperative Osteosarcoma Study Group (COSS)

Most aspects of osteosarcoma have been addressed in detail, but there is no comprehensive analysis of deceased patients and causes of death. The database of the Cooperative Osteosarcoma Study Group COSS (1980-03/31/2021; 4475 registered high-grade central osteosarcoma patients) was searched deaths from any cause. Affected patients were analyzed for demographic and baseline variables and disease-status at the time of demise. Deaths from causes other than osteosarcoma were analyzed in detail. A total of 1520 deceased patients were identified (median age (range) at osteosarcoma diagnosis 16 (2–78) years; 908 (59.7%) male, 612 (40.3%) female; primary tumor: extremities 1263 (83.1%), trunk 208 (13.7%), craniofacial 47 (3.1%) (site unknown 2); metastases at registration: absent 1.051 (69.1%), present 466 (30.7%) (3 no data). The median time from diagnosis to death was 2.22 (0.08–32.02) years. 1286 (84.6%) patients succumbed to osteosarcoma (370 without achieving complete remission, 488 first, 428 more than one recurrences), 146 (9.6%) to other, 88 (5.8%) to unknown causes. Chemotherapy-related infections (40), secondary malignancies (39), and perioperative complications (19) were among the most frequent potentially treatment-related causes, and high-dose methotrexate (19), doxorubicin (17), and ifosfamide (15) were the drugs most commonly held responsible. Patients with unknown causes of death had an unusually long median follow-up. The major cause of death of patients after osteosarcoma is this malignancy, mostly from one of its multiple relapses. However, almost 10% of fatalities are due to other documented causes. Some of these deaths may be preventable with the knowledge gained from comprehensive analyses such as this. •This report covers 1520 deaths occurring after osteosarcoma.•Deaths arose after a median of about two years, but very late events occurred.•Most patients died without ever achieving a remission or with multiple recurrences.•Almost ten percent succumbed to other known causes than osteosarcoma itself.•Infections, secondary malignancies, and perioperative complications were frequent.