Osteosarcoma News and Research

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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.

CHAM, AECC receive $1.3 million NCI grant to advance more effective bone cancer treatments for children

The Children's Hospital at Montefiore and the NCI-designated Albert Einstein Cancer Center today announced receipt of $1.3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

9 Sep 2015

UofL conducts Phase I research study for children with relapsed tumors

Zach feels "pretty good." Sam wants to be "done with shots!" And Tyler finds it helps to "just keep thinking that at least I'm getting out of school." They are normal boys who had normal lives until cancer came into the picture. All have faced the disease for two years or more, with surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. All were diagnosed with various malignant solid tumors, went into remission and then relapsed.

17 Jul 2015

Study uncovers complicated role of simple protein in spread of osteosarcoma

The investigation of a simple protein has uncovered its uniquely complicated role in the spread of the childhood cancer, osteosarcoma. It turns out the protein, called ezrin, acts like an air traffic controller, coordinating multiple functions within a cancer cell and allowing it to endure stress conditions encountered during metastasis.

7 Jul 2015

Fennec presents positive interim results from phase III trial of sodium thiosulphate at ASCO 2015

Fennec Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced the presentation of positive interim results from a poster presented today entitled, "Anti-tumor efficacy in SIOPEL6: A multi-centre open label randomised phase III trial of the efficacy of sodium thiosulphate (STS) in reducing ototoxicity in patients receiving cisplatin (Cis) monotherapy for standard risk hepatoblastoma (SR-HB)."

2 Jun 2015

FDA clears ADXS-HPV plus epacadostat IND for HPV-associated cervical cancer Phase 2 study

Advaxis, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer immunotherapies, today announced the clearance of the Investigational New Drug application by the United States Food and Drug Administration to conduct a Phase 2 study of ADXS-HPV (ADXS11-001) alone or in combination with Incyte Corporation's investigational oral indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) inhibitor, epacadostat (INCB24360), for the treatment of Stage I-IIIb human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cervical cancer.

1 Jun 2015

New genetic models allow for comprehensive analysis of drivers for osteosarcoma

New models developed at the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota reveal the genes and pathways that, when altered, can cause osteosarcoma. The information could be used to better target treatments for the often-deadly type of cancer.

27 May 2015

Stem cell disease model reveals how tumor suppressor may drive bone cancer

Using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), a team led by Mount Sinai researchers has gained new insight into genetic changes that may turn a well known anti-cancer signaling gene into a driver of risk for bone cancers, where the survival rate has not improved in 40 years despite treatment advances.

10 Apr 2015

Researchers pinpoint molecular mechanisms that inhibit Hippo pathway in pediatric bone cancers

A particular molecular pathway permits stem cells in pediatric bone cancers to grow rapidly and aggressively, according to researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center.

2 Apr 2015

Shire announces availability of Natpara (parathyroid hormone) for injection in U.S.

Shire plc today announced that Natpara (parathyroid hormone) for injection is now available in the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Natpara as an adjunct to calcium and vitamin D to control hypocalcemia in patients with hypoparathyroidism on January 23, 2015.

1 Apr 2015

CPRIT awards research and recruitment grants to improve cancer research

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has awarded UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers more than $7.5 million in research grants to improve diagnostic and therapeutic services and research relating to cancers of the brain, breast, throat, and bone, as well as to improve scientific understanding of cancer biology.

9 Mar 2015

Study details a new pathway for tumor formation

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) have identified the biological mechanism that may give some cancer cells the ability to form tumors in dogs.

2 Mar 2015

New cancer drug enters phase I clinical trials in humans

A new drug that prompts cancer cells to self-destruct while sparing healthy cells is now entering phase I clinical trials in humans. The drug, called PAC-1, first showed promise in the treatment of pet dogs with spontaneously occurring cancers, and is still in clinical trials in dogs with osteosarcoma.

27 Feb 2015

Clinical study data of Advaxis' Lm-LLO immunotherapies to be presented at SITC Annual Meeting

Advaxis, Inc., a cancer immunotherapy company, today announced the abstracts of three preclinical and clinical studies highlighting the survival outcomes and anti-tumor effects of its proprietary Lm-LLO cancer immunotherapy technology at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 29th Annual Meeting, November 6-9, 2014 at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

5 Nov 2014

Newly-identified cancer cell fingerprints in the blood could help diagnose childhood cancer

Newly-identified cancer cell fingerprints in the blood could one day help doctors diagnose a range of children's cancers faster and more accurately, according to research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference next week.

3 Nov 2014

Dominica Anderson named recipient of 2014 Julie and Ben Rogers Award for Excellence in Patient Care

Dominica Anderson, a nursing assistant at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, is the 2014 recipient of the Julie and Ben Rogers Award for Excellence in Patient Care.

17 Sep 2014

Researchers study effect of alcohol on neural activity using fruit flies

Seeking eventual solutions to problems ranging from alcoholism, cancer and Alzheimer's to finding better ways to clean contact lenses and use Lego models to build bridges, University of Houston (UH) students devoted the summer to some serious scholarship.

5 Aug 2014

Researchers investigate distribution of trace elements in tissue of bone tumours

In a study that is the only one of its kind worldwide, researchers from the MedUni Vienna, the Vienna Technical University and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute have investigated the distribution of trace elements in the tissue of bone tumours.

21 Jul 2014

Experimental antibody temporarily halts progression of neuroblastoma in children

Tumors shrank or disappeared and disease progression was temporarily halted in 15 children with advanced neuroblastoma enrolled in a safety study of an experimental antibody produced at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

9 May 2014

Tumor-suppressing protein acts as dimmer switch to dial down gene expression

A tumor-suppressing protein acts as a dimmer switch to dial down gene expression. It does this by reading a chemical message attached to another protein that's tightly intertwined with DNA, a team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2014.

11 Apr 2014

Alteration in tumor suppressor gene TP53 plays key role early in development of bone cancer

The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital-Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project found mutations in the tumor suppressor gene TP53 in 90 percent of osteosarcomas, suggesting the alteration plays a key role early in development of the bone cancer.

4 Apr 2014