Volume 4 | December 7, 2022 | View in Browser
As we head into the holiday season and focus on family, I am grateful for our osteosarcoma family and what everyone contributes to making our community better and stronger. Our Scientific Advisory Board member and brilliant veterinary oncologist Nicola Mason created awareness and hope in her interview about comparative oncology with Anderson Cooper on 60 minutes. Junior Advisory Board member Kara Skubris shared her story with People magazine on how devastating an osteosarcoma diagnosis can be and how she turned that pain into purpose. And when we visited Dr. Andy Livingston and the Haymaker Lab at MD Anderson Cancer Center last week, we witnessed firsthand the type of collaboration that gives us hope and accelerates research. We invite you to take a seat at our family table and engage in our collaborative community, whether that's starting a MIB Agents Family Fund®, applying to be on our 2023 Junior Advisory Board, or submitting an application for an OutSmarting Osteosarcoma 2023 grant. Wishing you a restorative and re-energizing holiday with your families, and we are so glad you are part of ours.
With Hope,
Ann
MIB Agents Scientific Advisory Board member Nicola Mason, BVetMed, PhD talks to Anderson Cooper about why dogs may hold the key to treating cancer in humans.
Our MIB Agents Junior Advisory Board President Kara Skubris spoke with People about her diagnosis, osteosarcoma journey, getting back to dance, and Making It Better for others facing osteosarcoma!
"While I was sitting in the hospital getting chemo pumped into my veins, I was able to do things to make it better for kids who were just getting diagnosed or who didn't know what was happening to them...MIB Agents has really given me a space to share my voice."
MIB Agents visited Dr. Andy Livingston, our 2020 OutSmarting Osteosarcoma grant recipient, and the Haymaker Lab at MD Anderson Cancer Center last week! We kicked off the visit with a MIB Mingle bringing together experts in the osteosarcoma medical community with our patient community and our partner BTG Specialty Pharmaceuticals. Watch out ortho oncs, Dr. Livingston crushed Operation!
Meet Walker Smallwood, MIB Agents Junior Advisory Board member and OsteoWarrior.
Learn about Walker's osteosarcoma story, his love for baseball, how osteosarcoma has impacted his life, and how he is hitting the osteosarcoma curveball out of the park to open new doors in his life.
"I like to think osteosarcoma gave me a new outlook on life because, in my experience, you don’t start to really live until you think you’re going to die."
If you have a job posting and you would like it included here, please email christina@mibagents.org.
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A virtual tumor review board for osteosarcoma, TURBO is open to global clinicians or researchers with an interest in osteosarcoma. Patients and families are welcome to ask their oncologists to present a case on their behalf. Join TURBO to request an invite or submit a case.
Next meeting: January 11th at 5pm ET.
See the 2022 OsteoBites Schedule and Subscribe
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MIB Agents is offering a special Healing Hearts During the Holidays workshops at two times on November 21st: 7pm ET and 7pm PT. Led by grief counselor Lori Krause, these workshops are free of charge to bereaved parents.
The 2023 OutSmarting Osteosarcoma application opens on 11/3/22
Applications Due 2/3/23
Collaboration among the scientific and patient communities is a key hallmark of MIB Agents. MIB Agents OutSmarting Osteosarcoma grants are supported by MIB Agents Family Funds, osteosarcoma patients, and families who raise funds in honor of an OsteoWarrior or OsteoAngel. Their dedication to Making It Better and fostering collaboration and education in the scientific community makes every MIB Agents award incredibly meaningful.
2023 funding mechanisms include a $100,000 one-year grant and a $50,000 one-year grant for young investigators.
Begun in 2017, OutSmarting Osteosarcoma has supported eleven investigators and awarded $950,000 to support osteosarcoma research. We expect to award multiple grants in 2023.
Six pediatric cancer foundations are collaborating to fund the Fighting Osteosarcoma Together Super Grant, a $1.5MM grant over three years for osteosarcoma research. LOI Submission Deadline: December 9, 2022
SARC is seeking CDA applications from early-stage physicians or scientists conducting sarcoma research in the US or Canada; qualified candidates will be within five years of their first faculty appointment with a rank of Instructor or Assistant Professor OR in the final year of clinical fellowship or postdoctoral fellowship. SARC Career Development Awards are awarded in the amount of $100,000, with a second year of funding contingent on satisfactory progress and availability of funds. LOI Submission Deadline: December 16, 2022
Opening soon: Disulfiram With Copper Gluconate and Liposomal Doxorubicin in Treatment-Refractory Sarcomas
Osteosarcomas, like many sarcomas, often demonstrate a pattern of initial response to therapy, where patients are able to be rendered “no evidence of disease” (NED), only to have the cancer recur and the recurrence is frequently resistant to chemotherapy. This suggests that a small amount of osteosarcoma cells manage to evade or resist the initial therapy and then give rise to relapsed disease. High expression of the enzyme Aldehyde Dehydrogenase (ALDH) is believed to not only be a marker of these resistant cells, but also potentially a source of their resistance. The drug disulfiram is a potent inhibitor of ALDH that has been used safely for over 50 years and this trial aims to repurpose disulfiram to sensitize resistant cancer cells to chemotherapy. The trial will initially be open to patients 18yo+, with plans to expand to younger patients in the future. The 2018 OutSmarting grant was pivotal in bringing this trial to fruition.
Access the MIB Agents clinical trials search powered by Antidote to find a clinical trial for osteosarcoma in 60 seconds.If you have a trial that is currently enrolling osteosarcoma patients and you would like it included here, please email christina@mibagents.org.
BTG provides rescue medicines typically used in emergency rooms and intensive care units to treat patients for whom there are limited treatment options. They are dedicated to delivering quality medicines that make a real difference to patients and their families through the development, manufacture, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Their current portfolio of antidotes counteracts certain snake venoms and the toxicity associated with some heart and cancer medications. Their drug, Voraxaze, is for high-dose methotrexate toxicity.Learn more about methotrexate.
Osteosarcoma Institute (OSI), a nonprofit organization led by osteosarcoma experts from top U.S. cancer centers who, together, are concentrating on the cure ® for osteosarcoma. The mission of the OSI is to dramatically increase treatment options and survival rates in osteosarcoma patients through identifying and funding the most promising and breakthrough osteosarcoma clinical trials and science. In addition to advancing research, OSI also provides a free resource called OSI Connect for osteosarcoma patients. Their osteosarcoma experts can discuss available treatments, possible side effects, and provide helpful advice for getting the most out of your visits with your treating physician. This resource is available in English and Spanish and aims to help patients and families find answers to their questions.
