Pioneers in musculoskeletal oncology: Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Founders Lecture.

I was invited to deliver the third annual Musculoskeletal Tumor Society's Founder's Lecture, at our annual meeting on May 2, 2003 in Chicago, IL. The Musculoskeletal Tumor Society began in 1977 when a small group of physicians, mainly orthopaedic surgeons, met to discuss ways of improving the outcome of the rare and usually fatal primary malignant neoplasms of bone. Treatment of patients with these types of cancers most often was amputation. Initial criteria for membership included participation in group clinical studies. As individuals and collectively as a tumor society, we have witnessed and participated in a revolution in the care of these patients resulting in markedly increasing survival from less than 20% to nearly 70% and dramatically lessening disabilities by using limb-sparing surgery instead of amputation. I have elected to present brief descriptions of some of the individuals and their contributions that have led to these noteworthy improvements in patient care and final results. These individuals lived in different countries during different times and are from various fields of medicine. The time constraints imposed by the lecture have made it impossible to include all the deserving pioneers.