Primary osteosarcoma of the skull in teenager

Abstract

Osteosarcoma of the skull is a rare primary malignant bone tumour in children, representing 1–2% of all cranial tumours. We describe a case of a 17-year-old adolescent with chondroblastic osteosarcoma of the parietal-occipital bone and no distant metastases at presentation treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgery and, later, concurrent chemoradiotherapy. The patient suffered progressive disease and died 15 months after diagnosis. There are at least 15 paediatric cases of osteosarcoma of the skull described in the literature. Due to its rarity, there are no broad prospective studies on this entity, which has distinctive features when compared to other craniofacial tumours, carrying a worse prognosis. Complete surgical resection is needed for long-term survival, whereas chemotherapy and radiotherapy have still questionable indications.