Funded by the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund
Bone cancer is one of the most painful cancers in children and teenagers. Many patients live with severe pain that makes it hard to walk, play, or sleep. Doctors often rely on opioid pain medicines, but these drugs can cause serious side effects. We still do not know why bone tumors cause so much pain or how pain is linked to tumor growth. Our research studies special nerve cells that sense pressure. As a bone tumor grows, it pushes against the hard walls of the bone. We think this pressure turns on these nerves. In our earlier studies of adult bone cancer, we found that these nerves play a major role in cancer pain. Now we will test whether the same process happens in childhood bone cancer. We will also study whether these nerves send signals that help tumors grow. If they do, blocking these signals could reduce pain and slow cancer at the same time. Our goal is to find safer, non-opioid treatments for children with bone cancer. This work could change how we think about cancer by showing that physical forces and the nervous system work together to shape disease. We hope these discoveries will lead to better treatments and improve the lives of children with bone cancer.
