Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary tumor of bone and the third most common malignancy in adolescents. OSs of all sites accounts for approximately 40-60% of all malignant tumors of bone. Approximately 6-13% are tumors that form in the craniofacial skeleton (1-4) . Appendicular OS, another type of bone tumor has a higher success rate than craniofacial OS, as over 75% of these patients are likely to survive in the longer run. The higher rate is apparent despite Appendicular OS not having distant metastases present (5). In many cases, complete surgical resection as determined by margin status has correlated well with outcome and a major factor that limits resectability is the extension of the tumor into adjacent structures, which is typically
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Primary craniofacial OS tumors arise in the parts of the skull that are derived from the neural crest. The neural crest is a multipotent population of cells that arises at the neural plate border in the vertebrate embryo. The neural crest contributes cartilage, bone and connective tissue to the craniofacial skeleton as well as neurons and glial cells to the peripheral nervous system, pigment cells to the skin, and mesenchyme and smooth muscle cells to the cardiovascular system (6, 7). Neural crest stem cells have been found to persist into adulthood as a population of dormant multipotent stem cells with a high capacity for self-renewal and an extraordinary degree of plasticity. Their plasticity and capacity for self-renewal is very similar to only by pluripotent embryonic stem cells (6, 7). Thus human neural crest-derived stem cells would appear to be ideal candidates for use in regenerative
Primary craniofacial OS tumors arise in the parts of the skull that are derived from the neural crest. The neural crest is a multipotent population of cells that arises at the neural plate border in the vertebrate embryo. The neural crest contributes cartilage, bone and connective tissue to the craniofacial skeleton as well as neurons and glial cells to the peripheral nervous system, pigment cells to the skin, and mesenchyme and smooth muscle cells to the cardiovascular system (6, 7). Neural crest stem cells have been found to persist into adulthood as a population of dormant multipotent stem cells with a high capacity for self-renewal and an extraordinary degree of plasticity. Their plasticity and capacity for self-renewal is very similar to only by pluripotent embryonic stem cells (6, 7). Thus human neural crest-derived stem cells would appear to be ideal candidates for use in regenerative