Medical University of South Carolina

Medical University of South Carolina

171 Ashley Avenue

Charleston, SC 29425

United States

Uncovering the signaling mechanisms allowing medulloblastoma progenitor cells to orchestrate tumor relapse

Medulloblastoma is the most common brain tumor in children. Despite the use of very aggressive treatments, 30% of these tumors will eventually grow back. Recurrent medulloblastoma is normally metastatic, and extremely hard to treat. Sadly, survival for children whose tumors recur is less than 10 months. It is, therefore, very important to find treatments that not only stop the growth of the tumors, but also prevent their reappearance. A series of experiments allowed us to find subsets of partially differentiated tumor cells resembling healthy astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in the brain.

CD36-Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Axis in Osteosarcoma Progression

Osteosarcoma

Bone is usually the site for metastasis of different cancers such as breast and prostate. However, osteosarcoma (OS) is primarily a bone cancer that starts in bone. Most OS occur in children and teens in areas where bone is growing rapidly such as ends of long bone. OS is the eighth most common form of childhood cancer and approximately 35% of all primary bone cancers and can lead to a life-long debilitating state for patients, thus it is important to study this cancer so that novel treatment modalities can be developed.