Malignant bone tumor management. 30 years of achievement.

Malignant bone tumor management has changed drastically over the last three decades. Orthopedic surgery has been in the forefront of these major advances. Amputation is now much less common than other forms of limb reconstruction. Oncologists have come to play a much larger role than do radiotherapists. Indeed, radiotherapy is seldom used now except for its undoubted value in palliation. The development of adjuvant chemotherapy is now prolonging life, assisting the surgeon in local resection, and almost certainly increasing the chances of survival. When one considers the valuable role of thoracic surgery in lung metastectomy and the advances in pathology, imaging, and the staging of bone tumors, it can be seen there has been a revolutionary change in the care of those who suffer from primary malignancy of bone.