Riaz Gillani, MD

Funded by the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common bone cancer in the United States. The disease impacts children and adults. Despite very hard treatment, many patients unfortunately die or have long-term side effects. Treatment has not changed much in over four decades. We need to improve treatment so that patients with OS have a better chance at healthy and long lives.Our research on patient tumors has shown that there are differences in gene expression across OS. This is most true for the disease that is the hardest to treat. The factors that drive this and how this relates to the genetics of OS remain unknown. Understanding this is important for developing better treatments.Our goal is to understand gene expression in OS and how this relates to genetics of this cancer. We will study patient tumor and normal tissue sequencing from OS patients and individuals without cancer. We will also carry out experiments on cell lines to build on our findings.We expect that what we learn will help inform new treatments for patients with OS. This will include a possible role for drugs that change patterns of gene expression to make OS more treatable. This would be an important step toward improving survival and outcomes for patients with OS.