Bone sarcoma is a rare cancer that accounts for less than 1% of all new cancer cases (CRUK, 2017). Ewing’s sarcoma is a type of bone sarcoma, sometimes spreading to the surrounding soft tissue, that most commonly affects teenagers and young adults. Ewing’s sarcoma is highly malignant and is usually treated with chemotherapy and surgery or radiotherapy. Around 50% of people survive Ewing’s sarcoma for 5 years or more after diagnosis (CRUK). However, if the disease spreads or recurs after treatment, prognosis is poorer. Current approaches to detect recurrence include periodic chest X-rays, blood tests and relying on the patient to report symptoms such as bone pain.
In this newly funded project, Dr Anjali Kusumbe, Prof. Richard Williams and Dr Felix Clanchy (Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences) plan to improve methods for the detection of disease relapse. Bringing together these researchers’ expertise from different fields, this award will allow the further development of tools and models to risk stratify patients.