Do children with Osteosarcoma benefit from Pulmonary Metastasectomy? - A Systematic Review Of Published Studies and ‘Real world’ Outcomes

Abstract

Objective: To critically examine the evidence-base for survival benefit of Pulmonary metastasectomy (PM) for Osteosarcoma (OS) in the paediatric population. Summary Background Data: PM for OS is recommended as standard of care in both paediatric and adult treatment protocols. Recent results from the PulMiCC trial demonstrate no survival benefit from Pulmonary Metastasectomy (PM) in Colorectal Cancer in adults. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken according to PRISMA guidelines. Medline, Embase and 2 clinical trials registers were searched for ALL STUDIES detailing paediatric OS patients (<18 y) undergoing PM with a comparison cohort group that did not receive PM. Results: Eleven studies met inclusion criteria dating from 1984 – 2017. All studies were retrospective and none directly compared PM versus No PM in paediatric patients as its main objective(s). Three-year survival rates ranged from 0-54% for PM and 0-16% for no PM. No PM patients were usually those with unresectable disease and/or considered to have a poor prognosis. All studies were at high risk of bias and there was marked heterogeneity in the patient selection. Conclusions: There is a weak evidence-base (Level IV) for a survival benefit of PM for OS in paediatric patients likely due to selection bias of ‘favourable cases’. The included studies many of which detailed outdated treatment protocols were not designed in their reporting to specifically address the questions directly. A randomised controlled trial - whilst ethically challenging in a paediatric population - incorporating modern OS chemotherapy protocols is needed to crucially address any ‘survival benefit’.