Grants Search Results

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is harder to cure than most other types of childhood leukemia and lymphoma. Treatments are toxic and require patients and their families to spend up to a year in the hospital. Childhood AML survivors often have serious side effects later in life from their treatment. We need new treatments for AML that are less toxic and more effective. AML is often caused by mutations in a protein called N-Ras that tell the leukemia to grow and divide much more quickly than healthy tissue. If we could shut down this abnormal N-Ras signaling, it would stop the leukemia from growing. Unfortunately, no approved drugs exist that target mutant N-Ras proteins. Dr. Decker and his colleagues are testing a new drug called ABD778 that selectively blocks the growth of AML cells with mutant N-Ras. The results of this research could move drugs like ABD778 closer to the clinic and pave the way for new treatments for childhood AML.

This grant is named for the Cody Thompson Memorial Hero Fund. Cody spent much of his childhood in the hospital. As an adult he embraced the health and happiness of children and was an avid St. Baldrick's volunteer. This grant is a tribute to the compassion he carried throughout his life.