Descriptive Epidemiology and Survival Rate of Osteosarcoma: The First National Population-Based Study in the Middle East (2008-2014)

The epidemiology of osteosarcoma (OS), the most common primary bone sarcoma, was not evaluated in the Middle East. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the incidence, demographic characteristics, epidemiology, and survival rate of patients with different subtypes of OS, based on data derived from the Iran National Cancer Registry (INCR) to evaluate the influence of ethnicity and race.

All OS patients registered in the INCR between March 20, 2008, and March 20, 2014, were enrolled in this study, and information such as age, gender, cancer location, OS subtype, and survival time were evaluated statistically.

The Age-Standardized Incidence Rate (ASIR) for OS was 3.02 per million person-years, with a mean age of 25.6 years and a male-female ratio of 1.54:1. Not Otherwise Specified (NOS) OS, chondroblastic OS, and central OS had the highest frequencies among the subtypes of OS. The overall one-, three-, and five-year survival rates were 87%, 61%, and 49%, respectively, with a mean duration of 6.16 years.

The ASIR of OS in our country was similar to that in the US and higher than that in China. The peak frequency was between 15-19 years old. The male-female ratio in our patients was higher than the OS gender ratio in most series. Although it was not statistically significant, older age at the time of diagnosis, axial location, and male gender were the poorest prognosis factors.