Dr. Nasri on Risk Stratification in Osteosarcoma

Elham Nasri, MD, fellow, Bone and Soft Tissue Pathology, University of Florida, discusses risk stratification in osteosarcoma.

Currently, patients with osteosarcoma are diagnosed, given 4 cycles of chemotherapy, and prepared for surgery. There is no prognostic marker that would indicate whether a patient’s risk for disease progression or their likelihood of response to chemotherapy, says Nasri.

As such, Nasri is focused on identifying predictors of clinicopathologic outcomes in patients with high-grade osteosarcoma. At the 2019 Musculoskeletal Tumor Society Conference, Nasri presented data on cell cycle checkpoints P16 and P21 as potential markers. If these markers are validated, patients could be stratified according to their risk, which could lead to better defined chemotherapy regimens, and thus, optimized outcomes.