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Disease

Osteosarcoma

Late-stage therapeutic developmentEmerging researchSteady momentum
10
Publications
20
Clinical trials
2
Related conditions
2024
Latest publication
Latest activity
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Recent clinical, regulatory, research and industry developments relating to this disease.

Advances on immunotherapy for osteosarcoma.

Research2024-09-09Molecular cancer

Chitinase-3 like-protein-1 function and its role in diseases.

Research2020-09-14Signal transduction and targeted therapy

Tumor-Associated Macrophages in Osteosarcoma: From Mechanisms to Therapy.

Research2020-07-23International journal of molecular sciences

Immuno-genomic landscape of osteosarcoma.

Research2020-02-21Nature communications

Approval: Mepact (EMA)

Regulatory2009-03-06EMA

What's happening now

An analyst briefing on current research, clinical, regulatory and industry activity surrounding this disease.

Clinical Milestones8View
Activity timeline8

Therapeutic landscape

Therapies with a regulatory footing for this condition, alongside the wider set of agents co-studied with it in the literature.

Approved & established therapies
Mifamurtideapproved

Approval — Mepact is indicated in children, adolescents and young adults for the treatment of high-g… (2009)

Clinical trials

14 sponsors · 2 new · 0 completed in the last 12 months (net +1)

The current development programme across all trial phases.

Clinical programme
20
All trials
6
Active
6
Late-stage
6
Completed
Late-stage studies
Recently completed

Regulatory timeline

Drug regulatory events matched to this condition by indication — EMA.

First approvals
2009emaApprovalMifamurtide· Mepact is indicated in children, adolescents and young adults for the treatment of high-grade resectable non-metastatic osteosarcoma after macroscopically complete surgical resection. It is used in combination with postoperative multi-agent chemotherapy. Safety and efficacy have been assessed in studies of patients two to 30 years of age at initial diagnosis. source ↗

European Medicines Agency (CC BY 4.0). Events are matched to this condition by drug indication text — approvals/updates for drugs indicated for it, not disease-specific acts.

Research activity

10 papers

Key research shaping understanding of this disease, combining the latest publications with the most influential evidence.

Publications over time
20202024
Most influential

Chitinase-3 like-protein-1 function and its role in diseases.

Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2020 · 411 cites

Tumor-Associated Macrophages in Osteosarcoma: From Mechanisms to Therapy.

International journal of molecular sciences · 2020 · 211 cites

Immuno-genomic landscape of osteosarcoma.

Nature communications · 2020 · 187 cites

Advances on immunotherapy for osteosarcoma.

Molecular cancer · 2024 · 158 cites
Recent publications
Major themes8
  • Osteosarcoma7
  • Bone Neoplasms6
  • Tumor Microenvironment3
  • Chitinase-3-Like Protein 11
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic1
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic1
  • Genetic Heterogeneity1
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease1
Leading journals6
  • Frontiers in immunology2
  • Nature communications2
  • Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)1
  • Cells1
  • International journal of molecular sciences1
  • Molecular cancer1
Leading researchers8
  • Sun Y2
  • Advani S1
  • Andrew Livingston J1
  • Beird HC1
  • Benjamin RS1
  • Bernardini G1
  • Binitie O1
  • Cao S1
Affiliations (unnormalised)6
  • Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute1
  • Center for Joint Surgery1
  • Center of Multidisciplinary Technology for Advanced Medicine (CMUTEAM)1
  • Central Laboratory of the First Hospital of Nanchang1
  • Changzheng Hospital of Naval Military Medical University1
  • Chiang Mai University1

Related conditions

2 matches

Diseases frequently studied alongside this one. Number shows shared papers.

Disease profile

A grounded synthesis of the condition — overview, causes, mechanism, risk factors and current standard of care.

Overview

Osteosarcoma is a malignant sarcoma that arises from bone-forming cells and typically involves the ends of long bones. It is the most common and most malignant bone sarcoma and occurs chiefly in children, adolescents, and young adults.

Causes

The supplied grounding does not identify a specific cause or aetiology for osteosarcoma. It notes that osteosarcoma is heterogeneous and that no identified driver mutation has been established in the reviewed literature.

Pathophysiology

Osteosarcoma is closely linked to a complex tumor microenvironment composed of bone, stromal, vascular, and immune cells within a mineralized extracellular matrix. The literature describes this microenvironment as supporting tumor growth, dissemination, immune escape, apoptosis resistance, migration, and drug resistance. Tumor-associated macrophages, especially M2-like macrophages, and broader immune components such as the complement system and exosomes are highlighted as important contributors.

Risk factors

The supplied grounding supports age as a major epidemiologic association, with osteosarcoma occurring chiefly in 10- to 25-year-old youths and also showing a second incidence peak in elderly individuals. No additional risk factors are explicitly supported in the provided material.

Current standard of care

Current management is generally described as combined poly-chemotherapy and surgery. The literature also discusses immunotherapy and other immune-based approaches, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, CAR T cells, bispecific antibodies, modified NK cells/macrophages, dendritic cell vaccines, and cytokines, but these are presented as active clinical development rather than established standard care.

AI-generated summary grounded in MeSH and 5 peer-reviewed sources. Informational only — not medical advice. Generated 2026-07-07.

Reference

Authoritative identity, definition & identifiers.

Defined in MeSH

A sarcoma originating in bone-forming cells, affecting the ends of long bones. It is the most common and most malignant of sarcomas of the bones, and occurs chiefly among 10- to 25-year-old youths. (From Stedman, 25th ed)

Identifiers
References & data sources
  • Disease identity & definition — NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), public domain
  • Clinical trials — ClinicalTrials.gov (U.S. National Library of Medicine)
  • Research activity — Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI) + OpenAlex-derived paper links
  • Related entities are derived from literature co-mention (studied together) — associative, not causal.