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Updated: Oct 12, 2025
A Preclinical Mouse Model of Osteosarcoma to Define the Extracellular Vesicle-mediated Communication Between Tumor and Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Published on: May 6, 2018
Extracellular Vesicles in Osteosarcoma: Antagonists or Therapeutic Agents?
Viviana De Martino1, Michela Rossi2, Giulia Battafarano2
1Department of Clinical, Internal, Anaesthesiology and Cardiovascular Sciences, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy.
Abstract:
Osteosarcoma (OS) is a skeletal tumor affecting mainly children and adolescents. The presence of distance metastasis is frequent and it is localized preferentially to the lung, representing the main reason for death among patients. The therapeutic approaches are based on surgery and chemotherapeutics. However, the drug resistance and the side effects associated with the chemotherapy require the identification of new therapeutic approaches. The understanding of the complex biological scenario of the osteosarcoma will open the way for the identification of new targets for its treatment. Recently, a great interest of scientific community is for extracellular vesicles (EVs), that are released in the tumor microenvironment and are important regulators of tumor proliferation and the metastatic process. At the same time, circulating extracellular vesicles can be exploited as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, and they can be loaded with drugs as a new therapeutic approach for osteosarcoma patients. Thus, the characterization of OS-related EVs could represent a way to convert these vesicles from antagonists for human health into therapeutic and/or diagnostic agents.
Insights
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are key regulators in osteosarcoma (OS) progression and metastasis. Characterizing these EVs could lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for this challenging bone cancer.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Osteosarcoma (OS) is a primary bone cancer predominantly affecting children and adolescents.
- Lung metastasis is a frequent complication of OS, leading to poor patient outcomes.
- Current treatments like surgery and chemotherapy face challenges due to drug resistance and side effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in osteosarcoma.
- To investigate EVs as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for OS.
- To assess the therapeutic potential of EVs in osteosarcoma treatment.
Main Methods:
- Review and synthesis of current literature on osteosarcoma and extracellular vesicles.
- Analysis of the biological functions of EVs in the tumor microenvironment.
- Evaluation of circulating EVs as biomarkers and drug delivery vehicles.
Main Results:
- Extracellular vesicles (EVs) significantly regulate tumor proliferation and metastasis in osteosarcoma.
- Circulating EVs show promise as non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic markers.
- EVs can be engineered for targeted drug delivery, offering a novel therapeutic avenue.
Conclusions:
- Understanding osteosarcoma-derived EVs is crucial for developing innovative treatments.
- EVs can be repurposed from disease drivers to therapeutic and diagnostic tools.
- Targeting EVs represents a promising strategy to overcome therapeutic limitations in osteosarcoma.
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