Characterization of osteosarcoma resected human tissue by using XANES at the Ca-K edges

The aim of this proposal is to assess bone quality of osteosarcoma resected human tissue by using μXANES at the Ca K-edges to obtain the chemical speciation of mineral bone at a spatial resolution down to the micrometric scale. This will allow to visualise and evaluate bone composition of osteosarcoma tissue and to compare the healthy control bone with OS affected tissue from the same subject. Due to its rarity, osteosarcoma is still lacking a reliable and precise chemical characterization of bone composition and the results of this proposal will help to tackle this gap. Thanks to a better understanding of bone changes in OS tissue this study could be translated into: i) pre-clinical research, ii) therapeutic strategy and iii) eventually clinical practice.