Overview of Chondrosarcoma

Malignancy:   Yes, a malignant bone tumour that originates from the cartilage cells.

Type of bone tumour: Most common primary tumour

Grade: Most are low grade

10% of low-grade tumours transform to higher grades

90% of patients with Grade 1 have a 5-year survival, and is decreased to 40% in patients with Grade 3 tumours.

It can metastasize to the lungs, and this causes resistance to therapies and late diagnosis.

Location:

It affects the cells of the cartilage of the bones (chondrocytes).

The role of the cartilage is to prevent friction between the two bones, and when there is damage to the cartilage, it can result in broken bones and pain.

Chondrosarcoma can grow inside a bone or on the bone surface.

Painful mass in the pelvis, shoulder blades (subclavicular joints), and long bones.

Examples of long bones are:

• fibula, tibia, and femur (lower limbs)
• radius, ulna, and humerus (upper limbs)

Onset:

Tumours occur in patients who are middle to late age (30 to 60).

Risk Factors Of Chondrosarcoma

A) Gender

Males are commonly affected

B) Ethnicity:

No racial dominance

C) Small bone growths called enchondromas that can transform into chondrosarcoma.

Appearance Under Microscope

Chondrosarcoma with haematoxylin and eosin (H and E) staining at x200 magnification.

Depending on the grade, features may include lobular or diffuse growth, permeation of the intertrabecular spaces, cellularity, atypical cells, mitotic activity, myxoid changes, liquefaction of the chondroid matrix, and necrosis. There is also abundant cartilaginous matrix with chondrocytes embedded in lacunae. In the microscopic image of Grade 1, there are some atypical cells, small chondrocytes, and nuclei, with some lobular growth. In the microscopic image of Grade 2, the number of atypical cells has increased, and the size of the nucleus has increased, as seen with the dark-shaded dots. A few atypical cells are paired or joined together, called binucleated cells. In the microscopic image of Grade 3, there is increased growth (mitotic activity), increased nucleus size in atypical cells, and polymorphism, pleomorphism (different forms of cells), and chondroid (Images from Guney and Qasem, 2024; Gazendam et al., 2023).

Types of Chondrosarcoma

References

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Gazendam, A., Popovic, S., Parasu, N., & Ghert, M. (2023). Chondrosarcoma: A Clinical Review. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(7), 2506. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12072506

Gerrand, C., Amary, F., Anwar, H.A., Brennan, B., Dileo, P., Kalkat, M.S., McCabe, M.G., McCullough, A.L., Parry, M.C., Patel, A., Seddon, B.M., Sherriff, J.M., Tirabosco, R. and Strauss, S.J. (2024). UK guidelines for the management of bone sarcomas. British Journal of Cancer. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-024-02868-4.

Guney, A. and Qasem, S. (2024) Bone and joints Chondrosarcoma. Available at: https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/bonechondrosarcoma.html (Accessed: 20th July 2026)

Hosseini, H., Heydari, S., Kiavash Hushmandi, Salman Daneshi and Rasoul Raesi (2025). Bone tumors: a systematic review of prevalence, risk determinants, and survival patterns. BMC Cancer, 25(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-025-13720-0.

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Updated July 2026 Next Review July 2028