High Circulating CXCL10, FLT3LG Levels May Predict Worse Survival in Osteosarcoma

In patients with osteosarcoma, high circulating levels of CXCL10 and FLT3LG may be predictors of worse survival, according to a study published in Cancer.¹

Researchers led by Ricardo Flores, MD, used Luminex assays in order to measure cytokine/chemokine concentrations in blood samples of patients with osteosarcoma from a discovery cohort at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston as well an independent validation cohort through the Children’s Oncology Group. A multivariate model was constructed in order to stratify patients into risk groups upon validation of biomarkers.

In both examined cohorts, the researchers found that circulating concentrations of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10), Fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (FLT3LG), interferon y (IFNG), and C-C motif chemokine ligand 4 (CCL4) were significantly associated with overall survival.

CXCL10 and FLT3LG were found to be independently associated with metastasis at diagnosis, and these factors were combined to develop a multivariate model that stratified patients into 4 distinct risk groups. Survival analysis demonstrated that 5-year overall survival rates were 77% for low-risk patients, 54% for intermediate-risk patients, 47% for high-risk patients, and 10% for very high-risk patients.

Five-year event free survival was 64% for low-risk patients, 47% for intermediate-risk patients, 27% for high-risk patients, and 0% for very high-risk patients.

Reference

1. Flores RJ, Kelly AJ, Li Y, et al. A novel prognostic model for osteosarcoma using circulating CXCL10 and FLT3LG. Cancer. 2016 Aug 16. doi: 10.1002/cncr.30272. [Epub ahead of print]