Stratifying osteosarcoma: minimizing and maximizing therapy

Patients who are newly diagnosed with osteosarcoma face a daunting year of medical and surgical therapy, often filled with hospitalizations and changes in lifestyle. Fortunately, the majority of patients endure this struggle to become long-term survivors. However, follow-up studies of cancer survivors are revealing the sequelae of this curative therapy. Just as disturbingly, there remains a large subset of patients for whom conventional therapy is inadequate and who succumb to disease. In this review, we propose that therapeutic strategies for osteosarcoma patients must rely on stratification of patients into risk categories, in order to minimize therapy for some, while expanding treatment for others. We then focus on two molecular targets for the treatment of patients with high-risk osteosarcoma.