b'The Drive to Cure SarcomaA collaborative spirit and a passion to defeat a persistently stubborn form of cancer drive the efforts ofVincent Y. Ng, MD,Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics. Dr. Ng, an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in musculoskeletal oncology, who is exploring how best to treat chondrosarcoma, a cancer that attacks cells which would otherwise produce cartilage. To jumpstart his efforts, Dr. Ng, who also works in the Bone Cancer and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Service at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, has teamed with UM orthopaedic cartilage specialists in a multidisciplinary pursuit of new treatment modalities.We are actively Sarcomas are a category of rare,THE TRIALS OF IMPROVINGexploring multiple malignant tumors that originateTREATMENT avenues of cutting-from connective tissues such asDr. Ngs collaborators in this new bone, muscle, fat, or cartilage.edge research to There are about 14,000 new caseseffort are husband and wife teamimprove survival Masahiro Iwamoto, PhD, DDS, of sarcoma per year in the UnitedProfessor of Orthopaedics, andfor future sarcoma States. Unlike other types of cancerMotomi Enomoto-Iwamoto, PhD,patients while at the that can spread to the bone, suchDDS, Professor of Orthopaedics,same time providing as breast, prostate, or kidneyboth researchers specializing in cancer, sarcomas typically arisecartilage and bone formation.the best available either in soft tissue or bone. TheI knew they were working withmultidisciplinary cancerous lesions can sometimescartilage studies and retinoictreatment for even be missed by doctors, saysacid, a metabolite of vitamincurrent patients. Dr. Ng, who has been named a TopA 1 that is essential in bone and Doctor in orthopaedic oncologycartilage development, says Ng.Vincent Ng, MDby Baltimore Magazine from 2016So, I approached them about the through 2019. It is importantchallenges we have been having to bring awareness not only toin treating chondrosarcoma.selective retinoic acid receptor patients, but also to the medicalThe researchers put their headsgamma (RAR-) agonist. Its community as a whole. together to devise a study basedbeen shown in mouse studies to upon their combined expertise. Indecrease the growth and size of the lab, the researchers are usingchondrosarcoma tumors, Dr. Ng nanoparticle injections combinedsays. The team is hoping their work with Palovarotene, a highlywill soon lead to a human clinical 6CONNECTING WITH QUALITY: A Renewed Focus on Value-Based Care'