A 1978 case report in the Journal described a 25-year-old man with disseminated osteogenic sarcoma whose metastases regressed after treatment with diet and intensive meditation. Thirty years later, there has been no recurrence of his cancer, and a recent pneumonectomy for chronic bronchiectasis revealed mature cancellous bone in the resected lung. The man is otherwise well. (MJA 2008; 189: 663-665)
A man who is now 58 years old was diagnosed in 1974, at the age of 24, with histologically confirmed high-grade osteogenic sarcoma of the right femur (Figure, A). His right leg was amputated in January 1975. Histopathologically, the tumour was described (in a 1994 review of the case) as follows: “The tissue is replaced by a cellular malignant spindle cell tumour forming osteoid and bone and having a disorganised pattern of proliferation . . . confirming the diagnosis of a high grade endosteal osteosarcoma (osteogenic sarcoma).”
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We are grateful to Professor Peter Clarke, who performed the pneumonectomy, and Mr John Doyle, who undertook the amputation, for their assistance with the provision of past records and review of the manuscript, and to Dr Sandra Neate for her critical review and helpful suggestions.
Professor Jelinek is a friend and colleague of the patient, and Dr Gawler is related to the patient.