Children and teens with bone cancers like Ewing sarcoma or osteosarcoma undergo very intensive treatments, including chemotherapy, surgery, and sometimes radiation, all aimed at a long-term cure. Currently, chemotherapy doses are based only on a child’s weight and height. This means children with very different body types may receive the same dose but experience very different side effects and outcomes.
Dr. Rebecca Deyell’s research funded by the generous support of Sarcoma Research Canada, Kindred Foundation and Childhood Cancer Canada Foundation is looking at body composition—how much lean muscle and fat a child has—as a factor in treatment response. The goal is to see how treatment affects body composition and, in turn, how body composition influences side effects, relapse risk, and long-term outcomes.
Ultimately, this research could help doctors personalize chemotherapy doses or provide nutritional interventions, reducing side effects and improving survival for children with bone cancers.
Using automated image analysis of routinely acquired scans, this study will also allow us to assess the longitudinal impact of intensive therapy on the same child’s body composition for the first time.
Next steps are already planned, with Dr. Deyell’s team successfully acquiring additional Seed Grant support to undertake analysis of hundreds of Ewing sarcoma patients who received therapy as part of a Children’s Oncology Group phase 3 trial.
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