Osteosarcoma Research

In the area of immunogenic osteosarcoma treatment, the Center for Pediatric Immunotherapy’s current research endeavors include exploration into the use of a component of oat bran in halting tumor growth in mouse models of osteosarcoma and certain other cancers. In addition, our pediatric cancer specialists are currently conducting a Phase I clinical trial to examine the effectiveness of a natalizumab – a humanized monoclonal antibody – to treat recurrent, refractory and progressive pulmonary metastatic osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma is a bone cancer that frequently occurs in children undergoing rapid growth. When the cancer spreads to places such as the lungs, the outcome can continue to be dismal despite intensive efforts over the last three decades of improving chemotherapy and surgical options. Lung osteosarcoma metastasis responds poorly to conventional chemotherapy, accounting for most of the mortality related to the disease. Doctors Kristen VanHeyst and Alex Huang are at the forefront of this studies creation and development. This research will mitigate this clinical challenge by understanding how macrophages, a subtype of immune cells, support osteosarcoma growth in lung tissues.

Alex Huang, MD, PhD focuses on strategies to activate the immune system to fight disease. His research advancements in the area of osteosarcoma offers improved treatment for a vulnerable population of young people fighting cancer.

Dr. Huang plans to eventually employ FDA-approved immune modulators as an effective therapeutic approach for pulmonary osteosarcoma metastasis. Success in this effort will provide a foundation for exploiting cell adhesion signaling as a concept for immunotherapy approaches against an otherwise deadly disease afflicting children and adolescents that have no alternative therapeutic options.