Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have shed new light on Ewing's sarcoma, an often deadly bone cancer that typically afflicts children and young adults. Their research shows that patients with poor outcomes have tumors with high levels of a protein known as GSTM4, which may suppress the effects of chemotherapy. The research is published online today in the journal Oncogene.

The largest analysis of its kind has found that Caucasians are much more likely than people in other racial/ethnic groups to develop a rare bone and soft tissue cancer called Ewing's sarcoma. In addition, among Caucasians with this cancer, men are more likely to die than women.

In the June 15th issue of G&D, Dr. Stuart Orkin (HHMI, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Children's Hospital Boston) and colleagues present a new mouse model of osteosarcoma.