Orthopaedic Oncology Center

Lawrence R. Menendez, M.D., Professor of Clinical Orthopaedics at the USC School of Medicine and Director of Orthopaedic Oncology at USC University Hospital, focuses his practice exclusively on the diagnosis and treatment of individuals with musculoskeletal tumors.

The Orthopaedic Oncology Center at USC brings together a broad range of subspecialists to offer patients comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services. Dr. Menendez coordinates the efforts of these specialists, in essence serving as the primary care physician for patients with musculoskeletal tumors.

Musculoskeletal Tumors: Complex and Rare

Because of their rarity and complexity, musculoskeletal tumors pose particularly difficult challenges to diagnose and treat, and in most cases require a multi-disciplinary approach. As a result, most patients with musculoskeletal tumors are more efficiently evaluated and managed at a center with an active orthopaedic oncology service.

Diagnosis

The USC Orthopaedic Oncology Team includes a musculoskeletal pathologist who specializes in the diagnosis of both soft tissue and bone tumors. The Center can perform all necessary immunochemistry stains, EM evaluations and cytologic evaluation. All outside histologic material is reviewed as part of this evaluation.

The team reviews each case at a weekly sarcoma conference, and formulates a comprehensive treatment plan once the patient has been accurately diagnosed and the stage of the tumor determined.

Treatment

Malignant bone tumors are usually treated with a combination of pre-operative chemotherapy, surgery and postoperative chemotherapy. Malignant soft tissue tumors are in most cases treated with a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. Some patients are also treated with cryosurgery. Many variations of treatment exist and must be tailored for each patient, taking into consideration the location of the tumor and the desires of the individual. Many forms of skeletal and soft tissue reconstructions are available.

Follow-up Care

The Orthopaedic Oncology Center provides comprehensive, appropriate follow-up care including rehabilitation, and detection and comprehensive treatment of tumor recurrence or metastatic disease.

Strong Relationships with Referring Physicians

Dr. Menendez corresponds regularly with all referring physicians and organizations to keep them updated on patient status. This close contact continues through patient follow-up. In addition, Dr. Menendez is willing to meet the needs of any group with respect to the management or service that they request. For example, some groups prefer to send patients for ealuation only or for surgical treatment only.

Although malignant tumors of the musculoskeletal system are rare, when health care providers do need to refer a patient, they can feel secure in the knowledge that the Orthopaedic Oncology Center at USC University Hospital has the experience and expertise to care for these patients when the need arises.