Research and clinical trials
Go to Cancer Research UK’s clinical trials database if you are looking for a trial for primary bone cancer in the UK. You need to talk to your specialist if there are any trials that you think you might be able to take part in.
Some of the trials on this page have now stopped recruiting people. It takes time before the results are available. This is because the trial team follow the patients for a period of time and collect and analyse the results. We have included this ongoing research to give examples of the type of research being carried out in primary bone cancer.
All cancer treatments must be fully researched before they can be used for everyone. This is so we can be sure that:
they work
they work better than the treatments already available
they are safe
To make sure the research is accurate, each trial has certain entry conditions for who can take part. These are different for each trial.
Hospitals do not take part in every clinical trial. Some trials are only done in a small number of hospitals, or in one area of the country. You may need to travel quite far if you take part in these trials.
Researchers are looking at new tests for bone cancer. These tests provide information about the bone cancer. The researchers will look at how doctors use these test results when they make treatment decisions.
Researchers are comparing to a . They want to know which treatment is better for children and young people with osteosarcoma that has come back (relapsed) or continued to grow (refractory) despite treatment.
Researchers are looking at how well targeted and work for:
advanced bone cancer that has spread to another part of the body
bone cancer that has come back after treatment
There are different types of targeted and immunotherapy drugs. For bone cancer, doctors are looking at:
sunitinib
nivolumab
lenvatinib
It is important that surgeons remove all the bone cancer as well as a border of normal tissue. This can be difficult in bone cancer. Bone cancer surgery can also affect your . To improve surgery for bone cancer, researchers are looking at:
a fluorescent dye to see if it can help surgeons remove all the cancer cells
improving bone
There has not been much improvement in osteosarcoma survival in the last 25 years. Doctors want to understand more about how and why osteosarcoma starts and grows. A better understanding might help doctors decide which treatments are likely to work best.
Researchers are looking at a new type of that measures how well the cancer is responding to chemotherapy.
Last reviewed: 09 Apr 2025
Next review due: 09 Apr 2028
Our clinical trials aim to find out if a new treatment or procedure is safe, is better than the current treatment or helps you feel better.
Clinical trials are medical research studies involving people. They help us to understand more about cancer and how we treat it.
There are several different types of primary bone cancer that can start in the cells of the bones. Find out about the different types.
The main treatments for cancer that starts in your bone include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. You might have a combination of these treatments. Find out more.
Primary bone cancer is cancer that has started in any bone of your body.
Learn more about the science and the researchers Cancer Research UK supports. Search our discoveries by cancer type and cancer topic.
About Cancer generously supported by Dangoor Education since 2010. Learn more about Dangoor Education
Search our clinical trials database for all cancer trials and studies recruiting in the UK.
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