Oncological and functional outcome in a rare case of clear cell chondrosarcoma of the proximal femur

Abstract

Chondrosarcomas are the second most common bone sarcomas, accounting for less than 0.5% of all cancers. The treatment plan can be improved by analyzing clinical characteristics and treatment patterns. The rarity and slow-growing nature of this tumour often lead to prolonged symptoms and also initial misdiagnosis with avascular necrosis of the femur, benign bone lesions like chondroblastoma. The initial reports of this patient suggested avascular necrosis of the femur head. His pain became severe and further investigations were done, MRI confirmed the diagnosis of Chondrosarcoma. An image-guided core needle biopsy suggested Clear Cell Chondrosarcoma (CCC). Wide local resection with negative margins forms the mainstay of treatment since intralesional procedures predispose to a high local recurrence rate. A prolonged follow-up is required since late local recurrences of tumour and distant metastases are common.