50 Years Ago in CORR: Parosteal Osteogenic Sarcoma: Treatment by Block Resection Everett J. Gordon MD CORR 1959;14:171–178

Excerpt

As with most diseases, the concepts and terminology of bone sarcomas have changed over time. In the early part of the 20th century after the ready availability of biopsy and radiographs, doctors recognized only a few types of recognized primary malignant bone tumors. In his 1937 textbook, McMurray listed but three major bone tumors: osteogenic sarcoma, “Ewing’s Tumour,” and multiple myelomata [7]; Campbell, in 1939, listed five: chondromyxosarcoma, osteoblastic, chondroblastic, chondrosarcoma, and osteolytic [1]. While these numbers in common textbooks should not reflect the state of knowledge of malignant tumors, they do reflect the relative paucity of recognized types or subtypes of tumors. Osteogenic sarcomas, for example, were subsequently subtyped based primarily on differing prognoses. Among these subtypes were the various “juxtacortical” or “surface osteosarcomas,” including parosteal and periosteal tumors. The implication of these terms is that the tumors lie outside the medullary cavity, when in fact a small percent do not. …