Most children dying of cancer have tumors that have developed “resistance” to conventional treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Scientists know very little about what is occurring in cancer cells to cause this, and therefore we have few options on how to cure such patients. Dr. Hogarty's team recently discovered that resistant cancer cells have altered the way their mitochondria, a key part of all cells, respond to the stress of cancer treatments; this leads to their inability to die. This research aims to explore this discovery further and find out opportunities to exploit it.

Neuroblastoma is a common childhood cancer. Cancers happen because of mutations (mistakes) in the genetic code within them, and knowing which specific mutation happened in each particular cancer should help doctors improve their treatments. Dr. Hogarty's team discovered that some neuroblastomas have mutations in a specific gene, ARID1, and that these tumors are especially difficult to cure. Dr. Hogarty is studying this gene more since it determines how nerve cells behave, and neuroblastoma arises from mutated nerve cells. This may give us insight into new ways to treat neuroblastoma.

Cancer is a disease caused by mistakes in the DNA of tumor cells. Identifying all these mistakes in a single type of cancer has been slow, but understanding them will revolutionize the way cancer is diagnosed and treated. This project makes use of exciting new developments in "sequencing technology" to identify all the DNA mistakes in neuroblastoma. This is the very first such effort ever undertaken for a pediatric cancer, and leverages the support and expertise of investigators at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the Children's Oncology Group and Johns Hopkins University.