Childhood Cancer

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Impact of STAG2 loss on DNA Damage and Immunobiology in Ewing sarcoma

Institution: 
University of Pittsburgh
Researcher(s): 
Kelly Bailey, MD, PhD
Grant Type: 
Innovation Grants
Year Awarded: 
2022
Type of Childhood Cancer: 
Ewing Sarcoma
Project Description: 

Ewing sarcoma is a cancer most often diagnosed in teenagers. We know that some changes in the make-up of Ewing tumors make them more likely to be aggressive and spread to other parts of the body. When Ewing sarcoma spreads to other parts of the body, like the lung, it is very hard to cure. Radiation is one therapy used to treat Ewing sarcoma in the lungs. Radiation can directly damage tumor cells and can also "call" immune cells into the tumor to help attack cancer cells. We have found that some types of aggressive Ewing sarcomas send out signals for immune cells to "go away." Our current work is to determine how some aggressive Ewing tumors quiet the immune system and to figure out how to turn this effect off in order to maximize the benefit of radiation for the treatment of Ewing sarcoma that has spread to the lung.

Project Goals:

The goals of our project are to 1) figure out why some Ewing sarcomas that spread to the lung tend to "quiet" the ability of the immune system to attack the tumor and 2) find immunotherapies to pair with radiation therapy in order to better treat lung metastatic Ewing sarcomas with certain genetic features. We want to improve the outcomes of teenagers diagnosed with metastatic Ewing sarcoma.