Osteosarcoma News and Research

RSS

Between two and three percent of all childhood cancers are osteosarcoma. Because osteosarcoma usually develops from osteoblasts, it most commonly affects children and young adults experiencing their adolescent growth spurt. Boys and girls have a similar incidence rate until later in their adolescence, when boys are more commonly affected. While most tumors occur in larger bones, such as the femur, tibia, and humerus, and in the area of the bone that has the fastest growth rate, they can occur in any bone. The most common symptom is pain, but swelling and limited movement can occur as the tumor grows.

Osteosarcoma is an orphan disease with approximately 1,200 new cases diagnosed in the United States each year. A similar incidence of the disease exists in Europe. According to the Children's Oncology Group (COG), the survival of children with osteosarcoma has remained at 60-65 percent since the mid-1980s. The standard treatment for osteosarcoma is tumor resection with combination chemotherapy before and after surgery.

BTG launches Voraxaze for treatment of toxic plasma methotrexate

BTG International Inc., the specialist healthcare company today announces the launch of Voraxaze (glucarpidase) in the US. Voraxaze is indicated for the treatment of toxic plasma methotrexate concentrations (>1 micromole per liter) in patients with delayed methotrexate clearance due to impaired renal function.

30 Apr 2012

Longer looks: Health literacy's effect on costs

In many families, women are the health care decision makers. When children go for their checkups, we are often the ones who make the appointment and sit in the room holding their hand. When elderly parents see a new specialist, we are the ones carrying the folder with all their health information. ... In the past, this also meant that many women would take care of their own health last. By the time they got around to it, women found a system stacked against them. But thanks to the health care law, that's changed.

23 Mar 2012

FDA approves new supplies of drugs that are facing shortages

The United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) have approved new suppliers for two crucial cancer drugs, easing critical shortages that had been concerning patients and families particularly of the children with leukemia. But there are currently 283 separate prescription drugs in short supply or unavailable nationwide, and regulators and manufacturers say shortages are a long-term problem that will continue to scare patients and doctors.

22 Feb 2012

Cartilage graft can stimulate bone regeneration

A person has a tumor removed from her femur. A soldier is struck by an improvised explosive device and loses a portion of his tibia. A child undergoes chemotherapy for osteosarcoma but part of the bone dies as a result.

14 Feb 2012

ZIOPHARM reports promising preclinical data with palifosfamide in pediatric sarcoma model

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc., a drug development company employing small molecule and synthetic biology approaches to cancer therapy, today announced the presentation of promising preclinical data with palifosfamide in a pediatric sarcoma model.

29 Oct 2011

JDR paper shows no link between fluoride bone levels and osteosarcoma

A paper in the Journal of Dental Research by dentist Chester Douglass and colleagues, "An Assessment of Bone Fluoride and Osteosarcoma," claims to show no association between fluoride bone levels and osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer.

3 Aug 2011

Bone fluoride levels are not associated with osteosarcoma: Study

A new study in the Journal of Dental Research finds bone fluoride levels are not associated with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer more prevalent in males.

29 Jul 2011

First dog enters ADXS-HER2 dose-ranging study in canine osteosarcoma

Advaxis, Inc., a leader in developing the next generation of immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases, announces that the first dog has entered a dose-ranging in canine osteosarcoma at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

8 Jul 2011

PCIB reports main results of Amphinex Phase I/II study against multiple cancers

PCI Biotech (PCIB) the Norwegian biopharmaceutical company, reported today the main results of the completed Phase I/II study of the new component Amphinex in the combination productPC-A11, where Amphinex is used in combination with the cytotoxic agent bleomycin.

24 Jun 2011

Eli Lilly, Synthes collaborate to develop osteoinductive products

Synthes, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company today announced the signing of an exclusive worldwide collaboration agreement to address the needs of patients who are cared for by orthopedic surgeons, including those with osteoporosis and those with bone fractures.

10 Jun 2011

Mount Sinai researchers identify protein signaling hyperactivity in human sarcoma cells

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered a protein signaling pathway that becomes hyperactivated in human sarcoma cells, suggesting that medications to inhibit this pathway may be effective in the treatment of human sarcomas. The research is published in the current issue of the journal Cancer Cell.

24 May 2011

Lilly's cixutumumab Phase II study results in five subtypes of sarcoma to be presented at 47th ASCO

Eli Lilly and Company announced data from its Phase II study with cixutumumab in five subtypes of sarcoma, a cancer that develops from connective tissues in the body.

20 May 2011

Reprogrammed herpes virus can improve early cancer diagnosis

Scientists have used a genetically re-engineered herpes virus that selectively hunts down and infects cancerous tumors and then delivers genetic material that prompts cancers to secrete a biomarker and reveal their presence.

12 May 2011

Spectrum receives FDA approval for FUSILEV to treat colorectal cancer

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company with fully integrated commercial and drug development operations with a primary focus in oncology, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on April 29, 2011, for the use of FUSILEV in combination with 5-fluorouracil in the palliative treatment of patients with advanced metastatic colorectal cancer.

30 Apr 2011

FDA approves Spectrum's FUSILEV Injection to treat metastatic colorectal cancer

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company with fully integrated commercial and drug development operations with a primary focus in oncology, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the Company's Supplemental New Drug Application for FUSILEV Injection.

22 Apr 2011

Research on rare cancers

A cancer diagnosis can be a life-changing event. Many questions arise, with one of the first being, "Where should I be treated?" Patients diagnosed with rare cancers may have difficulty finding a physician knowledgeable in treating their type of cancer.

11 Apr 2011

Rsearchers define new step that controls programmed cell death in cancer cells

When cells find themselves in a tight spot, the cell cycle regulator p21 halts the cell cycle, buying cells time to repair the damage, or if all else fails, to initiate programmed cell death.

2 Apr 2011

Loss of SKIP sensitizes cancer cells to apoptotic effects of DNA damage-inducing anticancer drugs

When cells find themselves in a tight spot, the cell cycle regulator p21 halts the cell cycle, buying cells time to repair the damage, or if all else fails, to initiate programmed cell death. In contrast to other stress-induced genes, which dispense with the regular transcriptional entourage, p21Cip1 still requires SKIP, a transcription elongation factor that also helps with the editing of transcripts, to be expressed, found researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

2 Apr 2011

UCI's doctor, colleagues earn Kappa Delta Ann Doner Vaughan Award for osteosarcoma work

UC Irvine's Dr. Bang H. Hoang and colleagues have been presented the 2011 Kappa Delta Ann Doner Vaughan Award for their work advancing the understanding of how bone cancer spreads.

14 Mar 2011

HCI creates Pediatric Cancer Late Effects Clinic to help manage long-term issues of treatment

Although cancer in children is rare, more than 10,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with some form of the disease every year. If these children survive, studies have found that more than two-thirds develop at least one late-effect of treatment, which can include additional cancers, fertility and heart problems, limited limb function, and hearing loss.

1 Mar 2011