Purpose: The purpose of this work was to analyse survival and prognostic factors in a series of patients treated for pelvic chondrosarcoma.

Material and methods: This series included 67 patients (27 women and 40 men) treated between 1971 and 1996 for pelvic chondrosarcoma. Mean age at diagnosis was 45 years (range 18–78). Forty percent of the tumours were grade I. The most frequent localisation was the iliac bone. Conservative surgery was performed in 45 patients. The only surgical treatment possible in 22 patients was an inter-ilioabdominal disarticulation. Resection margins were adequate for only 19 patients (wide resection). Marginal resection was noted in 14 patients with intra-tumour resection in 17.

Results: Overall 5- and 8-year survival was 65% and 58% respectively. Local recurrence rate was 40%, occurring a mean 27 months after initial surgery. Statistical analysis did not reveal any correlation between tumour size, tumour grade, type of surgery, resection margin, and local recurrence. Results were nevertheless less favourable in case of inadequate surgical margins. Tumour grade, tumour size, patient age, gender, and quality of resection did not have a significant effect on overall survival. Local recurrence was the only negative factor predictive of survival (p< 0.05).

Discussion: Development of local recurrence appears to be the most important negative predictive factor in patients with pelvic chondrosarcoma. In this localisation, satisfactory resection margins are often difficult to achieve. Most authors propose inter-ilioabdominal disarticulation as a last resort procedure. The question of the indication for more aggressive initial surgery to obtain more radical resection margins remains open.