Abstract
Bone sarcomas are rare cancers which often present with metastatic disease and are still associated with poor survival rates. Studies in the last decade have identified that exosomes, a type of extracellular vesicle released by cells, play an important role in tumour progression and dissemination. Through the transfer of their cargo (RNAs, proteins, and lipids) across cells, they are involved in cellular cross-talk and can induce changes in cellular behaviour. Exosomes have been shown to be important in metastasis organotropism, induction of angiogenesis and vascular permeability, the education of cells towards a pro-metastatic phenotype or the interaction between stromal and tumour cells. Due to the importance exosomes have in disease progression and the high incidence of metastasis in bone sarcomas, recent studies have evaluated the implications of these extracellular vesicles in bone sarcomas. In this review, we discuss the studies that evaluate the role of exosomes in osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, and preliminary data on chondrosarcoma.
Highlights
Bone sarcomas are rare cancers which often present with metastatic disease and are still associated with poor survival rates
Metastasis is an important burden for patients in oncology
Despite improvements in diagnosis and treatment strategies over the last decades, a high proportion of cancer patients have low chances of surviving the disease. This is mainly due to the presence of metastasis disease or tumours not responding to treatments given
Summary
More than 50 different types of sarcomas have been identified, emerging in different tissues, with different genetic backgrounds, and at different ages [1]. Adding to this diversity, they are far less common than carcinomas. A subset arises in the bone tissue, named bone sarcomas. These are rare, with an incidence of 1–2 new cases per 100.000 per year and only account for
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