St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

262 Danny Thomas Place

Memphis, TN 38105

United States

Decoding reciprocal extracellular matrix-tumor cell interactions in pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma

Patients with metastatic solid tumors, such as rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), continue to suffer from dismal patient outcomes. Innovation for treating these patients is hampered by our limited understanding of how RMS cells detach from tumors and seed metastatic sites. Our laboratory are leaders in the study of the complex cellular architecture of RMS. In prior work, we identified the broad range of cell types within RMS and are now in a position to translate those results. In preliminary work, we have developed an easy-to-perform and replicable system to model the process of cell detachment.

Functional Characterization of RELA Fusion Ependymoma as a Basis for Therapeutic Targeting

Ependymoma

Ependymoma is a lethal pediatric brain tumor that is still treated by surgery and radiation. When tumors recur, which is often, patients have limited treatment options and often receive additional radiation further worsening neurologic side effects. Novel, effective and less-toxic therapies are desperately needed for these patients. Ependymomas that arise in the forebrain are frequently driven by an oncogene that joins two proteins, C11ORF95 and RELA (denoted as C11ORF95-RELA fusion).

Isoform-specific TNC-redirected T cell Therapy for DIPG

Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG)

DIPG remains an incurable brain tumor since current therapies, including radiation and chemotherapy, cannot destroy all DIPGs cells. Immunotherapy holds the promise to improve outcomes for children with DIPG since immune cells kill tumor cells through different mechanisms than radiation and chemotherapy. Among different forms of immunotherapy, an immunotherapy consisting of immune cells known as T cells as garnered significant excitement.

Drugging MYCN

Brain Tumors, Medulloblastoma, Neuroblastoma

Childhood cancers are caused by genetic mutations that lead to changes in proteins that are essential for normal human development. The protein MYCN is the cause of many of the most aggressive pediatric cancers, including high-risk neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma. One of the holy grails of pediatric cancer drug development is finding a way to directly target MYCN in patient tumors, but this has been elusive. To address this major unmet need, we have developed an international team of scientists with complementary expertise to attack this problem with innovative new technologies.

Stephen Mack, PhD

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Inflammatory Signaling in the Tumor Microenvironment - Peter Murray, PhD (2013)

Neuroblastoma, Osteosarcoma, Retinoblastoma

Small Molecule Degraders for Targeting Transcription Factor Drivers of Childhood Cancers

Brain Tumors, Medulloblastoma, Leukemia

Project Team
M. Madan Babu, PhD FRSC, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Marcus Fischer, PhD, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Jeffery M. Klco, MD/PhD, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Paul A. Northcott, PhD, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Platform development for target identification in high risk pediatric leukemias

Leukemia

Despite much progress in understanding the genetic basis and mechanism of leukemogenesis of high risk leukemia there are a limited number of targeted therapies available for the treatment of high risk patients. The goal of this project is to leverage new screening technologies for the identification of candidate drugs and druggable gene targets for the treatment of high risk leukemia patients.

Chimeric cytokine receptors to improve CAR T-cell therapy for osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma

The clinical outcome for many patients with solid tumors including bone tumors, called osteosarcoma, remains poor. This is particularly true for patients in whom the cancer has recurred or spread to the lungs. Immunotherapy has the potential to improve outcomes for these patients. We are interested in a form of immunotherapy called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, which takes the patient’s own immune cells, modifies them in the laboratory to recognize and kill cancer cells, and puts them back into the patients.

A biophysical approach to improve CAR T cell efficacy against diffuse midline gliomas

Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG)

Diffuse midline glioma (DMG) is an uncurable pediatric brain tumor with extremely limited treatment options. The Krenciute Lab at St. Jude is working to develop new types of treatments known as immunotherapy for children with DMGs, in which the patient’s own immune system is harnessed to fight the cancer. Specifically, we are interested in developing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, a form of immunotherapy where a patient’s T cells are re-engineered to better target and attack the cancer cell.

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer