Grants Search Results

Brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children, and ependymomas are the third most common kind. Recent studies have shown that educating the patients own immune system to fight cancers immunotherapy can be safe and effective. Dr. Kohanbash's team has identified three peptides that might activate immune cells to specifically fight one of the more lethal types of ependymoma. Dr. Kohanbash is testing these peptides in the lab. He is also looking at how immunotherapy could help fight all six types of ependymoma that affect kids, and thus is studying relevant characteristics in the largest-ever series of pediatric ependymoma tumors as well as in ependymoma patients already participating in a clinical trial of a vaccine based on another peptide.

A portion of this grant is generously co-supported by the Henry Cermak Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research and the Team Campbell Foundation. The Henry Cermak Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research, a St. Baldrick's Hero Fund was created in memory of a brave boy who had an amazing spirit throughout his battle with a brain tumor. This fund is dedicated to Henry’s wish that “no one gets left out.”

The Team Campbell Foundation, a St. Baldrick's partner, was established in memory of Campbell Hoyt, who courageously battled anaplastic ependymoma, a rare cancer of the brain and spine for five years. Its mission is to improve the lives of families facing a childhood cancer diagnosis through raising awareness, funding research and providing psycho-social enrichment opportunities.

A portion of Dr. Kohanbash's grant was also generously supported by the Henry Cermak Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Ladle was awarded a new grant in 2020 to fund an additional year of this Scholar grant. As the Aiden's Army Fund St. Baldrick's Scholar, Dr. Ladle is using the body's own immune system to destroy cancer - specifically a class of cancer in children originating from connective tissues called sarcomas. Using fire as an analogy, Dr. Ladle seeks to build an intense flame of a powerful immune response which will specifically kill the cancer cells. To create this fire, one must follow specific steps. The kindling, which must be easily burned, is protein targets on the cancer cells (termed tumor antigens) recognized by the immune system. Next, the spark to ignite the kindling is initial inflammation in the tumor against these tumor antigens. Finally, to feed the fire, fuel or lighter fluid can be added in the form of recently approved immune modulator drugs which, when infused into patients, bind to immune cells residing in the tumor and activates them to kill the tumor cells. Each ordered step is essential in building an effective fire. This project addresses each of these key aspects for generating a successful immune response to treat sarcomas and creating new tumor antigens, adding inflammation to jump start the immune response against these antigens, and combining with new immune modulators allowing the immune cells to be active in destroying sarcomas.

This grant is funded by and named for the Aiden's Army Fund, a St. Baldrick's Hero Fund. When he was 8 years old, Aiden Binkley was diagnosed with Stage IV rhabdomyosarcoma. He had a huge tumor in his pelvis and the cancer had metastasized to his lungs. But this bright, funny and courageous boy believed he got cancer so he could grow up to find a cure for it. Aiden’s story has inspired so many people and his vision to cure cancer is being carried on by Aiden’s Army through the funding of research. They will march until there is a cure!

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a pediatric cancer of the developing skeletal muscle. The mechanisms that drive this tumor are poorly understood. From Dr. McEvoy's preliminary analysis, one possible mechanism is epigenetic deregulation of a group of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA). This is exciting because lncRNAs play a role in tumorigenesis in other cancer types, including a subset of pediatric tumors. This presents a unique opportunity to develop novel therapeutic approaches for children with rhabdomyosarcoma. Dr. McEvoy's team hypothesizes that lncRNA deregulation is essential for rhabdomyosarcoma development. This study is working to understand the underlying mechanisms that drive this disease and identify potential new therapies. These results will have tremendous impact on patients, especially those with metastatic disease since only 20-40% will survive using current treatments.

The EWSR1-FLI1 family of cancer genes causes Ewing sarcoma. However, no drugs currently exist that specifically block the action of EWSR1-FLI1 to cause cancer cells to grow. The McFadden Lab has engineered a "self-destruct button" into the EWSR1-FLI1 gene in Ewing sarcoma cells cultured in the laboratory, and these cells stop growing when the EWSR1-FLI1 gene is turned off. Dr. McFadden is using this laboratory tool to identify proteins that work with EWSR1-FLI1, and identify other genes it controls to cause Ewing sarcoma cells to grow. These studies will help identify new ways to stop the growth of Ewing sarcoma cells.

Women who are diagnosed with cancer before 40 are often concerned about whether they will be able to have children in the future. Women can freeze their eggs or embryos (called fertility preservation) to help protect their fertility, but these services may not be widely available. Dr. Nichols has looked at how often women in North Carolina have children after cancer treatment and whether the health of their babies is different from women without cancer. She is further examining the use of fertility preservation after diagnosis and its association with birth rates and outcomes. This research will provide information to improve the long-term health of AYAs with cancer.

The immune system not only fights infection, but can also fight cancer cells. Recently, doctors have been able to use patients' own immune cells to help treat their cancer. These immune cells can also attack the patient's normal tissues, which is harmful. Dr. Richman is working to learn how normal tissues might be protected while still allowing the immune cells to effectively kill the cancer cells.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Tarlock was awarded a new grant in 2020 to fund an additional year of this Scholar grant. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of white blood cells and almost half of children diagnosed with AML will not be cured, even with very intensive chemotherapy and in some cases bone marrow transplant. Many of the mutations in the leukemia that contribute to development of the cancer have been identified, but cannot be used for therapeutic benefit, especially in children. Dr. Tarlock and colleagues have performed genomic testing on the cells of many children diagnosed with AML and found that approximately 40% of children abnormally express the protein mesothelin on their leukemia cells. Dr. Tarlock and colleagues will develop a phase I clinical trial to test a new therapy strategy that uses principles of the immune system to deliver chemotherapy only to mesothelin-positive leukemia cells. They will develop a clinical assay for mesothelin detection in AML to identify children who will benefit from mesothelin-targeted therapy, and investigate methods to optimize disease response to mesothelin-targeting immune therapies.

This grant is generously supported by Rhys’ Pieces of the Cure, a Hero Fund created to honor Rhys Goldman and his journey with cancer. He was diagnosed with pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia just 2 weeks before his 6th birthday and endured treatment for three years. Rhys missed a lot of school and life during those years but since marking the end of treatment in July 2018, he has been enjoying swimming, singing in a boys’ choir, chess tournaments, playing with his dogs and going to school. Rhys’ Pieces for the Cure was created to ensure more research is funded for the treatment of pediatric cancer that is specifically focused on less toxic cures for kids.

While great strides have been made in treating children with acute leukemia, some children continue to do poorly. For example, children of Hispanic ethnicity are at greater risk of both relapse and treatment-related complications. The Reducing Ethnic Disparities in Acute Leukemia (REDIAL) Consortium will expand and enhance an established network of childhood cancer centers, with the goal of tackling ethnic outcome disparities by generating an unmatched resource of clinical information and biological samples. This information will be used to predict those who have the greatest risk of poor outcomes, with a focus on those of Hispanic ethnicity, to improve prevention and treatment strategies.

This grant is generously supported by Micaela's Army Foundation which was established in loving memory of Micaela White who fiercely fought Acute Myeloid Leukemia at the age of 18. Their mission is to raise money to help fund cancer research, education, awareness, and patient support for the cancers that affect children and their families.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Reducing Ethnic Disparities in Acute Leukemia (REDIAL) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Reducing Ethnic Disparities in Acute Leukemia (REDIAL) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Reducing Ethnic Disparities in Acute Leukemia (REDIAL) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Reducing Ethnic Disparities in Acute Leukemia (REDIAL) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Reducing Ethnic Disparities in Acute Leukemia (REDIAL) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.

Only 45% of children with high-risk neuroblastoma (NB) are cured. The New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) consortium links laboratory and clinical investigators to develop therapies with high potential for improving survival and performs the first testing of these treatments at 14 neuroblastoma centers in North America and 3 in Australia, United Kingdom, and France. NANT studies aim 1) to enhance the ability of the immune system to eliminate NB by targeting both NB cells and surrounding normal cells that help tumor cells grow and resist treatments; 2) to improve treatment of NB using small molecule drugs that target NB gene abnormalities that “drive” tumor aggressiveness including abnormal/mutated ALK protein or abnormally increased MYCN protein; and 3) to use molecular biology to define new treatment targets in NB and normal cells that enhance NB growth and resistance to therapy to improve prediction of outcome with a “biomarker” test for NB cells in blood and bone marrow. The NANT consortium anticipates that these innovative studies will improve survival for children with high-risk neuroblastoma.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.