MIB Agents OsteoBites and osTEAo

There is an urgent need for safe and effective therapies to improve outcomes for patients with relapsed osteosarcoma. Viscum album extract (Iscador P, Iscador AG, Arlesheim, Switzerland) is a mistletoe extract manufactured from the leaves, stems and berries of Viscum album L., grown on pine trees (P = Pini). It has shown efficacy and safety in lab experiments and small clinical trials for patients with relapsed osteosarcoma. Data from a small pilot study in Italy paved the way for developing a larger clinical trial in the United States to test the use of Viscum album extract for children, teenagers, and young adults with osteosarcoma that has come back and can be removed with surgery. Another goal of this study is to learn more about what impact Viscum Album extract may have on patients' quality of life, tumor biology and immune system during treatment.

This month on osTEAo, Sammy, Inaaya, Mackenzie, and Keely discuss Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, how childhood cancer is portrayed and understood, and what those portrayals can miss about the realities of a cancer diagnosis. They share personal experiences and perspectives on awareness, treatment, advocacy, and the different ways patients, siblings, and families experience childhood cancer. They also reflect on the importance of supporting families who are grieving while continuing to raise awareness and create a better understanding of childhood cancer. Tune in for an honest conversation about childhood cancer awareness from the perspective of survivors and siblings.

Osteosarcoma Webinar Series: W. Thomas Cash, MD, MSc Children's Healthcare of Atlanta will discuss his work the TIGER study, which is a phase 1 study testing the TBL1 inhibitor tegavivint in combination with gemcitabine for pediatric and AYA patients with relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma.

The topic of this presentation is the TIGER study, which is a phase 1 study testing the TBL1 inhibitor tegavivint in combination with gemcitabine for pediatric and AYA patients with relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma. This presentation will describe the background, objectives, eligibility, and treatment plan for the TIGER study, and will provide an update on trial progress to date.

Osteosarcoma Webinar Series: Subhashini Jagu, PhD, from the National Cancer Institute, joins us on OsteoBites to discuss the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative.

This presentation highlights how the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative (CCDI) Data Ecosystem is transforming pediatric cancer research by making diverse biomedical data more accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Attendees will learn how the CCDI Data Ecosystem connects distributed data resources, supports data discovery and sharing, and enables advanced analytics and AI-driven research. The session will also showcase how a coordinated data ecosystem accelerates scientific collaboration and helps translate data into meaningful discoveries that advance cancer research.

Dr. Subhashini Jagu is a Branch Chief in the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Office of Data Sharing. She leads the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative (CCDI) Data Ecosystem, advancing interoperable biomedical data ecosystems, clinical data workflows, and federated data architectures that enable data sharing and AI-driven cancer research. With more than 25 years of experience in biomedical research, Dr. Jagu has led numerous cross-agency collaborations to improve data accessibility, interoperability, and reuse. She has authored nearly 40 peer-reviewed publications and holds a patent, with a career dedicated to accelerating biomedical discovery through innovative data infrastructure.

The Greenfield Lab’s long-standing research interests focus on basic and translational aspects of bone biology, and on osteosarcoma metastasis. The osteosarcoma project aims to repurpose FDA-approved drugs to block growth of lung metastases, which is the primary cause of lethality in osteosarcoma patients. Current studies utilize 3D sarcosphere cultures and mouse models.

Dr. Greenfield earned his undergraduate degree in biology from New College of Florida and master’s and doctoral degrees in marine biology and biomineralization, respectively, from the University of the North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed post-doctoral studies in bone cell biology at Washington University in St. Louis before joining the faculty at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1990, where he remained before moving to Indianapolis in 2019 to join the IUSM Department of Orthopaedic Surgey, the Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health, and the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center.

This episode of osTEAo features OsteoWarriors Inaaya, Sloane, and Elise sharing their experiences adapting summer activities and travel with limb differences. They discuss everything from summer camp, swimming, and ziplining to navigating theaters, airports, and public transportation. The conversation also explores accessibility, disability rights, advocating for accommodations, and finding new ways to enjoy activities after cancer. Listen in for honest stories, helpful tips, and a look at how they’re making summer adventures their own.

Metastatic osteosarcoma remains a major clinical challenge, highlighting the need to better understand the molecular mechanisms that drive disease progression. In this talk, Moreno will present the use of an in vivo CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) screen to identify genes that promote osteosarcoma progression. She will focus on KLF5, a transcription factor that emerged as a key regulator in our studies, and discuss its potential as a therapeutic target for osteosarcoma.

Marta Roman Moreno, PhD, is a postdoc fellow in the Sweet-Cordero Lab at UCSF. She has a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Granada in Spain, and an MSc and PhD in Biomedical Research from the University of Navarra (Spain). The key focus of her work is to define key regulators of metastasis in osteosarcoma and determine the vulnerabilities that can diminish the survival of metastatic cells. Using mouse models, cell lines derived from patient samples (PDXs) and pooled in vivo CRISPR screens, she has been able to identify several potential genetic vulnerabilities in the context of metastatic osteosarcoma.

Dr. Alexander Davies discusses his OutSmarting Osteosarcoma-funded work on the validation of MCL1 inhibition and combinatorial therapy for elimination of osteosarcoma lung metastasis, funded Because of Matthew, in partnership with Fishin' for the Cure.

Osteosarcoma Webinar Series: Jeremy Rosenblum, MD from New York Medical College will discuss his work on combinational next generation CAR NK immunotherapy in osteosarcoma.

Immunotherapeutic approaches to treating osteosarcoma have had limited success to date. Using natural killer cells as the base platform, our group seeks to combine immunotherapies to cure osteosarcoma. The presentation will describe projects using chimeric antigen receptor natural killer (CAR-NK) cells together with monoclonal antibodies, as well as a newly funded project modifying CAR-NK cells to be able to overcome the immunosuppressive osteosarcoma tumor microenvironment.

Osteosarcoma Webinar Series: Dr. Jing Huang is a Senior Investigator and Head of the Cancer and Stem Cell Epigenetics Group in the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). He received his bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Peking University and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of Rochester, followed by postdoctoral training in cancer epigenetics at the Wistar Institute.

Dr. Huang joined the NCI as a Principal Investigator in 2008 and earned tenure in 2016. His laboratory investigates transcriptional and epigenetic regulation in cancer and stem cells, with a major focus on the oncogenic driver RUNX2 in osteosarcoma. His ultimate goal is to develop novel therapeutic strategies and translate laboratory discoveries into clinical advances for osteosarcoma patients.