Symptoms of osteosarcoma can be vague and difficult to detect, meaning many patients face significant delays in diagnosis. This delay can make the cancer harder to treat and may be one reason why there has been little improvement in survival over the past decades.
In 2024, the Improving Sarcoma Diagnosis grant call was jointly shaped and funded by the Bone Cancer Research Trust and Sarcoma UK, with extensive input from patients and family members, as well as experts across the fields of sarcoma and early diagnosis. The ultimate goal of this funding collaboration is to drive forwards research with the potential to lead to earlier, more accurate diagnosis of bone and soft tissue sarcoma, drawing on the latest evidence, technology and available data, to address what has been highlighted as a major priority for both BCRT’s and Sarcoma UK’s communities.
The SPEED study ('osteosarcoma pathology evaluation for early diagnosis'), led by Dr Sarah Snelling at the University of Oxford, will harness the evaluation of patient samples to develop a greater understanding of vital clues which might lead to earlier diagnosis.
What are the aims of this research project?
This research aims to develop new tests to detect osteosarcoma-related substances in a blood sample that could help to identify osteosarcoma earlier.
Blood tests for other cancer types detect genetic information relating to the cancer (cancer DNA) in the blood. However, osteosarcoma is known to have very complex genetic characteristics, meaning that this approach is unlikely to work well.
Instead, Dr Snelling and team will be focusing on detecting osteosarcoma specific markers including RNA, proteins or cells, which could be more reliable indicators. They will analyse both tissue and blood samples from osteosarcoma patients and see if these markers.
This research will use both tissue and blood samples from osteosarcoma patients. By analysing these samples, the team will look for specific markers that indicate the presence of osteosarcoma. Information relating to this group of possible markers (referred to as a ‘discovery dataset’) will then be made freely available to the international osteosarcoma community to explore and continually build on.
Using a mix of computer algorithms (artificial intelligence) and cost analysis, the researchers' goal is to refine this initial ‘discovery’ dataset until it becomes a reliable and affordable diagnostic tool. This tool will then undergo further testing to confirm its accuracy.
How could this project improve treatment options for osteosarcoma patients?
Ultimately, the goal of this research is to create a reliable and translatable blood test for osteosarcoma that can facilitate an earlier diagnosis, allowing patients to begin treatment as soon as possible. This research could also lay the groundwork for similar tests for other types of bone cancer, with the potential to benefit more patients in the future.
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