Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma of bone and soft tissues.

Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma of bone and soft tissues treated at the Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli are reviewed. The skeletal locations were prominent in five cases. Only two cases were in the soft tissues. Radiographic picture in the bone shows an aggressive osteolysis, with soft tissues invasion. Histologic picture is the same in bone and soft tissues, and is highly distinctive: islands of well-differentiated chondrosarcoma embedded in undifferentiated mesenchymal cells with high malignancy characteristics. The cases showed a poor prognosis, and no patient survived more than four years.