The etiology of osteosarcoma. A review of current considerations.

Various agents have caused osteosarcoma in several experimental animal systems. These agents or initiators may be classified as chemicals, radiation, viruses, and miscellaneous. Zinc beryllium silicate with beryllium oxide in rabbits and FBJ virus in mice are two such initiating agents. The relevance of these animal experiments to the human situation is not known, but recent reports regarding a transmissible agent obtained from human osteosarcoma tissue suggest that a virus may be implicated. There is a theoretic indication that the various etiologic agents, including viruses, may affect the DNA of normal cells in such a way that further evolution and differentiation through several cell divisions may result in the clinical appearance of cancer.