Squamous cell carcinoma is a neglected disease entity in orthopedic oncology. The purpose of this study was to analyze overall survival and the role of surgery on survival and to evaluate the significance of possible prognostic factors. From Oct, 1986 to Aug, 1996, 57 patients were enlisted and 42 patients ere eligible. Inclusion criteria included more than one year follow-up and no distant metastasis at the first visit. Staging and survival followed AJC classification and Kaplan-Meier plot. Stage II included 17 cases and stage III, 25 cases. Thirty-eight patients underwent operations, chemotherapy, and/or radiotherapy, and the remaining four had operations only. The chemotherapeutic regimen was adriamycin-cisplatin. The average follow-up period was 45 months. The ten-year actuarial survival rate of whole patients was 65.4%. Location of primary lesion, stage, pathologic grading, and intensity of chemotherapy in the same stage showed a significant difference in survival. Nine out of 42 patients had local recurrence. Seven patients had inadequate wide margins and two had intralesional margins. Average period of recurrence from operation was 13(4-35)months. The operation itself had no impact on survival but a surgical margin of no less than 3cm from the lesion was important for local control. Pathological grade and staging were significant variables for long term survival. Acral lesion had a significantly higher chance of regional and distant metastasis but actual survival showed no difference. In stage II, aggressive chemotherapy could delay or reduce the chance of regional or distant metastasis.