Equivalent Disease-Specific Survival Between Rural and Urban Osteosarcoma Patients: A Retrospective Analysis of the SEER Database

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignancy of bone. Previous studies have demonstrated rural-urban disparities in metastatic disease incidence and overall survival in high-grade osteosarcoma patients. However, there is a paucity of literature investigating disease-specific survival (DSS) disparities between rural and urban patients, which is explored herein using the SEER database. Patients with biopsy-proven cases of osteosarcoma were identified from 2000-2021. Statistical analysis was completed using SPSS version 29.0.2 and included chi-squared, Kaplan-Meier and log-rank, and stepwise Cox regressions. Statistical significance was considered at <i>p</i> < 0.05. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed no significant differences in 5- and 10-year DSS between rural (55.0% and 47.0%) and urban patients (56.0% and 51.0%) (<i>p</i> = 0.107). Multivariable analysis further revealed no significant DSS difference between rural and urban patients (aHR: 1.03; 95% CI: 0.86-1.24; <i>p</i> = 0.757). This study expands upon prior research by investigating DSS between rural and urban osteosarcoma patients and finding no significant differences. While rural living is often associated with worse outcomes, important prognostic factors for osteosarcoma, including metastatic disease at presentation and tumor grade, were not significantly different between rural and urban patients in our study, possibly explaining our DSS-related findings. Factors other than geographical location likely impact outcomes, and future research should examine other ways that rural living may influence cancer care.