Difference between osteosarcoma in southwest England and the Kanto area of Japan in relation to age, sex, and localization

Abstract

Osteosarcoma usually affects the long bones during the second decade of life. Although there are several reports on clinicopathological aspects of many osteosarcomas in the European, American, and Japanese literatures [1–5], no comparison has been made between European or American cases and Japanese cases. Therefore, an attempt was made to compare the age, sex, and localization of histologically confirmed osteosarcomas in southwest England with those in the Kanto area of Japan. Several reports on the age and sex distribution and localization of osteosarcomas have already been published from the Bristol Bone Tumour Registry in England [2,6–8], and we have reported previously [1] on 62 cases of histologically confirmed osteosarcomas examined mainly at the University of the Tokyo Hospital. The data from both institutes have been updated in the current study, and Japanese cases of osteosarcoma from several hospitals in the Kanto area of Japan have been included.