Pediatric osteosarcoma

What is pediatric osteosarcoma?

The word “sarcoma” means a tumor that grows in bones or soft tissue like muscles and organs. Osteosarcomas are a type of sarcoma that grows in a particular type of cell inside bones.

Risk factors

Every year, about 400 children and teens in the U.S. develop osteosarcoma. Most of these tumors grow in the knee or shoulder. They can also spread to other parts of the body, such as the lungs.

What are the signs and symptoms of pediatric osteosarcoma?

Children may notice pain, redness or swelling where the tumor is growing. Children can also develop a limp, decreased movement and sometimes even a fracture at the site of the tumor.

How is pediatric osteosarcoma diagnosed?

DNA

We identify the type of cancer by taking a sample of the tumor, looking at it under the microscope and studying its DNA.

Imaging

We also get detailed images of the tumor, through tests like an MRI, CT-scan, bone scan and PET-CT scan. These images show us how big the tumor is and whether it has spread to other places in the body.

We use the type, size and location of the tumor to decide which treatment will work best for your child.

Analytical Imaging and Modeling Center

The Analytical Imaging and Modeling Center at Children’s Health offers advanced imaging technology that may help diagnose and treat craniosynostosis.

What causes pediatric osteosarcoma?

In most cases, there is no known cause, but some people may have an increased risk of developing osteosarcoma due to genetics, other bone diseases or environmental exposure, such as radiation.

How is pediatric osteosarcoma treated?

A child with osteosarcoma will typically have three stages of treatment:

Chemotherapy

Used to kill the cancer cells and shrink the tumor

Surgery

To completely remove the tumor

Additional courses of chemotherapy

Used to kill off any remaining cancer

At Children's Health, we also always look for new and better treatments. Our academic affiliation with UT Southwestern Medical Center allows our providers to participate in ground-breaking research and provide innovative care.

We offer advanced ways to treat osteosarcoma that are not available anywhere else. These include taking 3D images of the tumor to help doctors plan their treatments. We’re also developing a system where we put data about a child’s tumor into a computer program.

The program will compare that tumor to other tumors in the database and predict how your child’s tumor will respond to different treatments. This evolving system may help us select the treatment that is most likely to be successful.

Our pediatric oncologists work closely with the surgery teams to provide seamless care throughout the course of treatment. Our surgeons have expertise in performing complex surgeries, such as limb salvage, rotationplasty and amputations, to treat osteosarcoma.