Funded by the Constellation Brands Gold Network Distributors in honor of the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund
Ewing sarcoma is a cancer that is most often diagnosed in teenage children and young adults. There is a need for new therapies for this disease. The goal of our work is to develop new therapies for Ewing sarcoma focused on a drug target called EWS-FLI1. Multiple studies have shown that EWS-FLI1 is a promising drug target for this disease. In a clinical trial called SARC037, we are currently testing a combination therapy that we have shown targets EWS-FLI1. The goal of the current study is to try to understand why some patients in this trial respond to the therapy and others do not. To accomplish this, we will study ways that EWS-FLI1 resists targeting. We will identify molecular differences in tissue collected from patients who had an excellent response to the therapy compared to those who did not respond. In addition, we will test these differences in the laboratory to see how they impact sensitivity to the therapy used in SARC037. The results will guide future clinical studies that seek to target EWS-FLI1. In addition, they will provide insight into how EWS-FLI1 contributes to drug resistance to more traditional chemotherapy.
