“Thanks to VeloSano funding, we really have a unique opportunity to take what we believe is a really novel and effective approach to improving osteosarcoma care from an idea to what hopefully will be large-scale funding to get this idea to the bedside to benefit patients as soon as possible,” says Zachary Burke, MD.

Zachary Burke, MD

Gabriel Mandel, MD

Co-Investigator

Cleveland Clinic Surgical Institute

Sarcoma

Pediatric Pilot Grant

Changing the Unchanged Treatment for Osteosarcoma

One of the leading causes of cancer deaths in teens and pre-teens is osteosarcoma, the most common bone cancer. But care for this disease has remained basically unchanged for decades. Zachary Burke, MD, Gabriel Mandel, MD, and their team are hoping to resolve that.

The average age at diagnosis is 15 years old. This may be related to the “growth spurt” that most teens experience at this point in their lives. The standard treatment consists of chemotherapy, surgery to remove the tumor and then more chemotherapy. Dr. Burke and Dr. Mandel aim to move towards more personalized medicine.

“The goal of this study is to define the population of cells that are resistant to chemo and be able to give patients something that we can match with lab data that is more effective to the specific population of cells,” says Dr. Burke.

They are utilizing a panel of approved existing drugs in a different way that they hope will inform their next steps. By understanding tumors’ weaknesses and the evolutionary process of resistance formation, we are finding cracks in the armor that will lead to more effective treatments. They hope to identify different markers in patients’ genes that will tailor cancer care to each person.

“By studying cancer as it responds to treatment, we’re hoping to learn more about how we can best treat it throughout therapy,” says Dr. Mandel. “Instead of doing a one-size-fits-all for every patient with cancer, we will hopefully be able to get to more personalized cancer care, which is really important for these children.”