Postoperative infection and bone sarcoma survival: systematic review of the role of infection in bone sarcoma prognosis.

Background: Osteosarcoma (OS) and chondrosarcoma (CS) are primary bone malignancies whose prognoses have stagnated despite advancements in surgical management, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy. The role of the immune system in generating anti-cancer physiologic responses is critical to prognosis. Prior studies have explored if immune system activation via infection enhances survival in bone sarcomas without a clear consensus.

Methods: This study sought to (I) retrospectively examine the effect of postoperative infection on survival in OS and CS and (II) systematically review the effect of postoperative infection on survival in primary bone malignancies. We performed a retrospective case-control study of 192 patients treated between 1/2000-12/2015 at a single academic sarcoma referral center. Patients with OS or CS undergoing operative resection were included. Eligible patients were grouped by presence of metastasis, and survival was compared between patients with or without postoperative infection. Furthermore, we performed a systematic review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines investigating the effect of infection on primary bone malignancy survival. Risk of bias assessment was performed utilizing the ROBINS-I (Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies-of Interventions) assessment tool. All presented studies included author information, study population, and overall or disease-free survival results.

Results: One hundred and four patients were included, with 85 without infection (26 metastatic, 59 non-metastatic) and 19 with infection (10 metastatic, 9 non-metastatic). Five-year survival was greatest in patients without metastasis with a postoperative infection (100%), followed by patients without metastasis who were infection-free (80%). Five-year survival was comparatively lower in patients with metastasis who were infection-free (35%) and lowest in patients with metastasis with a postoperative infection (20%). No significant differences were present (P=0.17) on log-rank analysis. Our systematic review collected six studies exploring the impact of infection on primary bone malignancy survival, with two studies reporting significant findings of infection improving survival. Limitations of this review included risk of bias due to confounding, inconsistency comparing outcomes, and differences in patient populations.

Conclusions: This retrospective study and systematic review suggests postoperative infection may play a role in modulating immune response to malignancy. Understanding the synergy between anti-pathogen and anti-cancer responses warrants further investigation as an alternative method of targeted cancer treatment.