Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Childhood solid tumors are aggressive cancers in children and adolescents that often reoccur or progress after remission (relapsed) or do not even respond to current treatments (refractory). Over the past 40 years, despite multiple therapeutic approaches, children and adolescents with these relapsed/refractory cancers have a dismal outcome (less than 5% of them will survive 1 year) in large part due to the resistance to therapies induced by the suppressive environment in the tumor. New therapeutic approaches are urgently needed to improve the survival of these patients.

Ewing sarcoma (ES) is a malignant tumor arising from bone and soft tissue in children, adolescents, and young adults (CAYA). Most ES patients already have tumor cells spread (metastasis) to other organs such as lung and bone at the time of diagnosis. Despite the intensive treatment including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, only approximately one out of four patients with metastatic ES will survive 5 years. More effective and new therapeutic approaches are desperately needed to improve survival of these patients.