Highlights of the ISOLS/MSTS 2009 Meeting: Editorial Comment

Excerpt

Despite much progress in the last three decades, our patients with musculoskeletal neoplasms deserve better outcomes and quality of life from limb salvage procedures than we currently provide. To accomplish this, we in the profession must direct our attention to more research, more education, and more innovation to minimize disease and preserve patient function. While there are many obstacles to understanding and treating musculoskeletal neoplastic disease, the international community has shown its ability to leverage intellectual and societal resources to make progress. An outstanding example of this was the first combined meeting of the International Society of Limb Salvage (ISOLS) and the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) held in Boston in September 2009. Such collaborative efforts allow orthopaedic surgeons and scientific investigators to document the progress in orthopaedic oncology, highlight the remaining problems with limb salvage, and fertilize clinical and basic research efforts worldwide. …