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Updated: Jul 17, 2026
Intratibial Osteosarcoma Cell Injection to Generate Orthotopic Osteosarcoma and Lung Metastasis Mouse Models
Published on: October 28, 2021
Next-generation osteosarcoma models for precision medicine
Mohamed Saqawa1,2, Miguel Vieira Coelho3, Marta Lourenço3
1National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Science, Technology and Sustainability for Ceramics (ISSMC), Faenza, Italy.
Abstract:
Osteosarcoma (OS) is a highly aggressive bone malignancy that predominantly affects adolescents and young adults. Despite the progress in conventional treatment approaches, such as surgery and chemotherapy, patient outcomes remain poor due to OS metastatic potential, chemoresistance and frequent recurrence. Although recent advancements in novel therapeutic strategies, such as molecular inhibitors, gene-based interventions, alongside immuno- and radiotherapies, have emerged in recent years, OS is still not well understood due to its complexity and heterogeneity. Tissue engineering and predictive preclinical models offer a good toolbox to study OS and produce patient-tailored therapeutic protocols. This review discusses the recent development of tissue engineering-based strategies and OS mimicking preclinical models like 3D in vitro models, organ-on-chip technologies, and predictive computational (in silico) models, ranging from mechanistic (white-box) to data-driven (black-box) and hybrid (grey-box) approaches. Based on these recent developments, researchers can better replicate the native OS tumour microenvironment, which opens the doors to a more representative high-throughput drug screening tools and patient-tailored treatment strategies.
Insights
Tissue engineering and advanced preclinical models offer new ways to study aggressive bone cancer (osteosarcoma). These tools help researchers understand the tumor microenvironment for better drug screening and personalized treatments.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Biomaterials Science
- Regenerative Medicine
Background:
- Osteosarcoma (OS) is an aggressive bone cancer with poor outcomes due to metastasis, chemoresistance, and recurrence.
- Current treatments are insufficient, and OS complexity/heterogeneity hinder understanding.
- Novel therapies show promise but require better models for study.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advancements in tissue engineering and preclinical models for studying osteosarcoma.
- To highlight how these models can improve understanding of the OS tumor microenvironment.
- To discuss the potential for patient-tailored therapeutic strategies.
Main Methods:
- Discussion of tissue engineering strategies for OS.
- Review of 3D in vitro models, organ-on-chip technologies, and in silico models (white-box, black-box, grey-box).
- Focus on models that replicate the native OS tumor microenvironment.
Main Results:
- Tissue engineering and advanced preclinical models offer improved tools for OS research.
- These models facilitate better replication of the OS tumor microenvironment.
- Development of more representative high-throughput drug screening platforms.
Conclusions:
- Tissue engineering and advanced preclinical models are crucial for advancing osteosarcoma research.
- These innovative tools pave the way for developing patient-tailored treatment protocols.
- Enhanced understanding of OS biology through better models will improve therapeutic outcomes.
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