Skip to main content
CTOS 2023 Main banner
Final Program


Schedule at a Glance
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Back

Bone Sarcomas

(P 73) FOSTER CONSORTIUM, FIGHT OSTEOSARCOMA THROUGH EUROPEAN RESEARCH

Location: The Liffey, Level 1
Objective: Osteosarcoma, although a rare disease, is the most common primary bone cancer in adolescents and young adults, known to have a complex biology and an overall survival that has not improved over the last decades. Evolution towards metastatic, primarily pulmonary, disease remains the key problem despite heavy multi-modal therapy.

Our objective is to create a collaborative efforts for a better understanding of osteosarcoma biology, what's essential essential to tailor new therapies for the individual patient.

Methods: The FOSTER consortium (Fight Osteosarcoma Through European Research) was created to connects professionals of the full multidisciplinary team, including young investigators, and patient/parent advocates, at a European level.

All members together aim to improve biological, translational and clinical research in osteosarcoma with the main objective to improve survival and quality of life of patients of all ages with osteosarcoma.

Results: The FOSTER consortium comprises 300 members from19 countries. It is organised in 8 work packages and 2 aditionnal groups, with an Executive Committee representing all countries, all professions, as well as patients and parents

The FOSTER consortium aims to integrate biological and preclinical studies in standard practice (WP1), to identify new promising therapies derived from molecular profiling programs and early phase clinical trial data (WP2), these to be implemented in optimally designed trials for relapsed disease (WP3) and where possible implemented in biologically stratified newly designed first line trials (WP4), with consideration of the preferred approach for local control of the primary tumor and metastatic lesions (WP5), improved radiological evaluation of the disease and its response to therapy (WP6) and essential attention for quality of life, functional outcome and late effects (WP7). Data sharing for collaborative research and knowledge dissemination across professionals and patients/parents is key for the FOSTER consortium (WP8).

Conclusion: The FOSTER consortium is committed to improving outcomes for all osteosarcoma patients and has been structured explicitly to achieve this important goal, with strong patient and parent involvment. Without such a collaborative effort, the future for many osteosarcoma patients remains dismal.
The creation of a consortium in Europe in this rare disease is a first step for broader collaboration.