Osteosarcoma: current insights and advances

Abstract

Osteosarcoma is the most prevalent primary malignant bone tumor affecting adolescents and young adults. Despite advancements in cancer therapies, its prognosis remains poor due to its aggressive nature and early propensity for metastasis-often present at the time of diagnosis. The etiology of osteosarcoma is multifactorial, involving genetic predispositions, environmental exposures, and familial syndromes. While treatment strategies are largely dictated by tumor stage, neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgical resection remains the cornerstone of management. This review provides a comprehensive overview of osteosarcoma, including its historical context, subclassifications, clinical presentation, diagnostic approaches, and evolving treatment modalities. Recent therapeutic innovations-such as gene therapy, immunotherapy, radiation advances, and tyrosine kinase inhibitors-are discussed in detail, highlighting their mechanisms and clinical potential. By synthesizing current literature and identifying ongoing challenges, this review aims to inform clinicians and researchers of recent progress while highlighting critical gaps to guide future research and improve patient outcomes in osteosarcoma care.

Keywords: Osteosarcoma; gene therapy; immunotherapy; radiation; tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Figure 1

A schematic representation of the CRISPR/Cas9, base editing, and prime editing mechanisms, which compares the differences in components, progress, and outcomes for the three techniques [32, 34]