Primary Malignant Musculosqueletal Tumors of Members in Adult in Togo

Abstract

Purpose: Primary malignant musculosqueletal tumors in adult are rare affections group and its treatment is still a real challenge today. The aim of this work was to describe the epidemiologic and treatment aspects of these tumors in the national reference center of our country. Materiel and Methods: It was a retrospective review of primary malignant musculosqueletal tumors treated in orthopedics and trauma unit of Sylvanus Olympio teaching hospital of Lomé, Togo from January 2000 to December 2014. Results: During the study period, 28 cases were selected and reviewed. There were 17 men (60.71%) and 11 women (39.29%). The average age was 32.7 years. There were 20 cases (71%) of primary malignant bone tumors (PMBT) and 8 cases (29%) of primary malignant soft tissues tumors (PMSTT). There were 6 (30%) of osteosarcoma. The tumor was located in the bones of the forearm and wrist/hand in 2 (10%) patients for each anatomical site; for the lower limb, around knee in 7 (35%) patients. Eight patients had PMSTT (28, 57%). There were three cases of rhabdomyosarcoma, 2 cases of fibrosarcoma. Tumors were located around knee in 4 cases and around ankle/foot in 3 cases. In the two groups of tumor, tumor resection was performed in 5 patients (17.86%) and limb amputation indicated in 23 patients (82.14%), was performed in 15 (53.57%) and 8 patients (37.78%), rejected it and left hospital against medical advice. Conclusion: Malignant musculoskeletal tumors are relatively rare in Togo. Their treatment is based on radical surgery which is often not supervised by adjuvant therapies. Ignorance, poverty of the population and embryonic state of diagnostic and treatment infrastructures are the obstacles to their care. Education and awareness must be integrated to care and fight against this group of diseases.