Leaders in Orthopaedic Oncology Collaborate on National Tumor Registry to Improve Treatments

Every year, approximately 15,000 new cases of sarcoma are diagnosed in the United States. Sarcoma, a rare cancer that originates in connective tissue, accounts for about 1% of all cancer diagnoses in adults and about 15% of pediatric cancer diagnoses.

The Musculoskeletal Tumor Registry (MsTR), an initiative led by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) in collaboration with the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS), was launched in early 2019. MsTR enables orthopaedic oncologists to share data, procedures and patient-reported outcomes about sarcoma and other rare connective disease tumors.

Cleveland Clinic is among six major academic medical centers chosen to participate in this program. Nathan Mesko, MD, one of the MsTR surgeon leaders, recently discussed the collaboration and its clinical implications for treating sarcoma patients in a Q&A with AAOS.

Nathan W. Mesko, MD, is the Center Director of Musculoskeletal Oncology in the Orthopaedic and Rheumatologic Institute at Cleveland Clinic. He is also co-director of the Sarcoma Center in the Taussig Cancer Institute at Cleveland Clinic.