Bone Cancer & Sarcoma Awareness Month

Monday 1 July 2024

July is Bone Cancer and Sarcoma Awareness Month.

Osteosarcoma and Ewing Sarcoma are the two most common types of bone cancers in children and adolescents.

Ewing Sarcoma forms from a type of stem cell in the bone marrow. It can also form in soft tissues near bones, which are called extraosseous or extraskeletal Ewing tumours. It is a rare, but highly aggressive cancer that most commonly affects adolescents and young adults. Sadly, poor outcomes are a reality for a significant number of children and young people with Ewing Sarcoma.

Due to the rarity of Ewing Sarcoma, international collaboration for research and clinical trials is vital. Australia has an established relationship with the Euro-Ewing Consortium, a network undertaking high-quality randomised trials. ANZCHOG sponsors three open trials for Ewing Sarcoma; REGO-EWING, rEECur and INTER-EWING-1.

Read more about the ANZCHOG-sponsored Ewing Sarcoma clinical trials below …

REGO-EWING

The REGO-EWING study tests the feasibility of regorafenib, a multi-kinase inhibitor, with conventional Ewing Sarcoma chemotherapy. The trial is currently open in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia for children and adolescents with multi-metastatic Ewing Sarcoma, who present the highest unmet medical need for prognosis.

REGO-EWING is supported by Canteen Australia, the Australian Government Medical Research Future Fund, The Kids’ Cancer Project and the Cooper Rice-Brading Foundation. Our clinical collaborators Australia and New Zealand Sarcoma Association (ANZSA) are also supported by their philanthropic partner, the GPA Andrew Ursini Charitable Fund.

rEECur

The rEECur trial is testing to see what is the most successful treatment for a child or young person who has relapsed with Ewing Sarcoma. Currently, it is not known which chemotherapy drug combination provides the most successful treatment for a child or young person who has relapsed. This trial, the first of its kind world-wide, aims to find out which course of treatment is the most effective and with the least side effects.

REECur is supported by the Australian Government Medical Research Future Fund in conjunction with CanTeen.

INTER-EWING-1

INTER-EWING-1 will be the only clinical trial open in Australia for newly diagnosed Ewing Sarcoma patients, providing access to a promising new treatment agent and contributing to the evidence base for the best treatment protocol for this disease.

This study will examine if changing treatment at three key points can improve survival for patients diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma. These changes include combining a new drug (regorafenib) with chemotherapy, refining radiotherapy treatment/doses and adding further chemotherapy at the end of treatment.

INTER-EWING-1 is supported by Canteen Australia, the Australian Government Medical Research Future Fund, The Kids’ Cancer Project and the Cooper Rice-Brading Foundation. Our clinical collaborators Australia and New Zealand Sarcoma Association (ANZSA) are also supported by their philanthropic partner, the GPA Andrew Ursini Charitable Fund.

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