Preventing Nephrotoxicity and Ototoxicity From Osteosarcoma Therapy

Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer in children, adolescents and young adults. Treatment with surgery and a combination of three conventional chemotherapy drugs can cure nearly two-thirds patients with osteosarcoma, but the treatment can also cause irreversible damage to the kidneys and cause permanent hearing loss. The purpose of this study is to evaluate new approaches to prevent these side effects without interfering with the beneficial effects of the chemotherapy drugs on the cancer by using our knowledge of how the drugs damage the kidney and cochlear hair cells in the ear to selectively block these side effects. Preventing these side effects without interfering with the anti-cancer effect of the drugs will improve the outcome in survivors and may also improve the effectiveness of the chemotherapy regimen by preventing treatment delays and dose reductions that are often caused by the side effects. Patients will be carefully monitored to ensure that the new interventions do not adversely affect response to the treatment and do not increase the other side effects of the chemotherapy. Specifically, we will monitor the nutritional status of the patients closely and ask patients to complete a survey describing the side effects after each treatment cycle. We will also collect a small sample of cancer tissue at the time of biopsy and surgery from each patient on this study for testing to determine new classes of anti-cancer drugs currently under development may have a role in treating osteosarcoma. If effective, these new approaches to prevent kidney damage and hearing loss will be applicable in other types of cancers treated with the same chemotherapy drugs.