Effect of chemotherapy combined with caffeine for osteosarcoma.

Nine patients with osteosarcoma were treated by chemotherapy combined with caffeine and surgery. All primary tumors showed complete histological response to preoperative chemotherapy consisting of three intraarterial infusions of cisplatin and caffeine without/with doxorubicin and two systemic high-dose methotrexate combined with vincristine. Limb-salvage surgery was performed in eight patients with marginal procedure, which led to the preservation of good limb function. Below-knee amputation was done in one patient with calcaneal osteosarcoma. There has been neither local recurrence nor lung metastasis in seven patients with conventional osteosarcoma during a median follow-up period of 28 months. Lung metastases leading to death were observed in one patient with small-cell osteosarcoma despite complete destruction of the primary tumor by preoperative chemotherapy. Chemotherapy combined with caffeine administration deserves further extensive and large-scale study in osteosarcoma.