Despite significant improvements in outcomes for children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), today's therapies can cause toxic side effects, and too many young AML patients still relapse and die from the disease. There is an urgent need for less toxic, more effective therapies.
Principal Investigator Name:
Melinda Biernacki, MD
Project Title:
Developing Targeted Immunotherapy Against Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia
This project focuses on Ewing’s Sarcoma, a cancer of the bone or soft tissue that predominately affects adolescents. Although patients with localized disease are often cured, the prognosis for patients with metastatic disease is dismal, with survival estimates as low as 10%. We do not yet understand why some Ewing’s Sarcoma cells metastasize, and patient outcomes will not improve until we fill this critical knowledge gap.
Principal Investigator Name:
Kelly Bailey, MD/PhD
Project Title:
Micro-environmental Regulators of Ewing sarcoma Metastasis
Pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the second most common pediatric leukemia. While anthracycline intensification has improved survival, it has also increased the risk for cardiac dysfunction. Currently, Dr. Aplenc's laboratory is working to describe the clinical epidemiology and genetic risk factors for early onset cardiac toxicity using data from Children's Oncology Group clinical trials. While anthracycline and other intensive therapies have been somewhat successful, still only 60% of children with AML will be cured.
The most exciting advances in cancer treatment over the last few years have been with immune-based therapies. We have witnessed great successes for adult patients in treating skin, kidney, and lung cancer with antibodies that allow the immune system to be activated against a patient's cancer. Relapsed leukemia is being treated using genetically engineered immune cells that attack the leukemia cells.
Principal Investigator Name:
Colburn Yu
Project Title:
Incorporating Cancer Vaccines with Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Osteosarcoma
Pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pre-B ALL) is the most common malignancy in children. However, remarkably little is known about the molecular basis of the initiation and maintenance of this leukemia. In pre-B ALL, B cell development is arrested at an early developmental stage and the leukemic blasts hijack normal developmental signaling to support their survival and proliferation.
Principal Investigator Name:
Flannery Bowman
Project Title:
A Cell-type Specific Checkpoint Limits Proliferation in Early B Cells
Chris loves baseball – he has a history of playing for his high school team and is a longtime fan of the San Francisco Giants. However, when he was in high school, Chris began having strange symptoms. Today, Chris is a three-time survivor of glioblastoma.
