title: Advances in emerging drugs for osteosarcoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Osteosarcoma (OS), the most common primary malignant bone tumor, is currently treated with pre- and postoperative chemotherapy in association with the surgical removal of the tumor. Conventional treatments allow to cure about 60 - 65% of patients with primary tumors and only 20 - 25% of patients with recurrent disease. New treatment approaches and drugs are therefore highly warranted to improve prognosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review focuses on the therapeutic approaches that are under development or clinical evaluation in OS. Information was obtained from different and continuously updated data bases, as well as from literature searches, in which particular relevance was given to reports and reviews on new targeted therapies under clinical investigation in high-grade OS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OS is a heterogeneous tumor, with a great variability in treatment response between patients. It is therefore unlikely that a single therapeutic tool will be uniformly successful for all OS patients. This claims for the validation of new treatment approaches together with biologic/(pharmaco)genetic markers, which may select the most appropriate subgroup of patients for each treatment approach. Since some promising novel agents and treatment strategies are currently tested in Phase I/II/III clinical trials, we may hope that new therapies with superior efficacy and safety profiles will be identified in the next few years.
authors.affiliation: a 1 Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Laboratory of Experimental Oncology , Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia Maria
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hattinger
authors.forename: Marilù
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fanelli
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tavanti
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vella
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Picci
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Serra
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D018579:Patient Selection; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: drug resistance; osteosarcoma; pharmacogenetics; pharmacogenomics; tailored therapy; targeted drugs