A higher than expected fraction of adolescent osteosarcoma patients carry a gene mutation that is often inherited

NIH: A new study shows that inherited variations in a known tumor suppressor gene among children and adolescents with osteosarcoma, a cancer of the bone, are more common than previously thought. Older patients who are also susceptible to this malignancy were not found to carry mutations in the gene, known as TP53. The study, finding that the genetic susceptibility to young onset osteosarcoma is distinct from older adult onset osteosarcoma, was published online April 20, 2015, in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Lisa Mirabello, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, led the research. NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health.