Research Funded

Abstract: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are mesenchymal neoplasms that generally harbor activating kinase mutations in either KIT or PDGFRA.  GISTs respond to front-line treatment with the specific kinase inhibitor imatin... Read More

Abstract: Retroperitoneal liposarcomas are rare tumors and the only effective treatment is surgery. However, local recurrence is common after surgery and is the major cause of death.  Due to the rarity of these tumors, little is kn... Read More

Abstract: Hedgehog (Hh) signaling has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several types of sarcomas. The goal of the proposed research is to develop drugs that block modification of Hh proteins with palmitate and thereby prevent ... Read More

Abstract: Advanced liposarcoma has low overall response rates to chemotherapy. There is a need for targeted therapy for liposarcoma. Utilizing microarray and RT-PCR data, we found ribonucleotide reductase M2 (RRM2) to be upregulated... Read More

Abstract: Ewing sarcoma is the second most common form of bone childhood cancer, and its genetic hallmark is an aberrant fusion gene known as EWS/FLI1.  It is unclear whether the expression of EWS/FLI1 alone is sufficient, or addit... Read More

Abstract: Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignant tumor of bone, with a pea incidence in the second decade of life. New therapies are needed to improve survival especially among patients with recurrent or metastatic diseas... Read More

Abstract: Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignant tumor of bone.  Standard treatment is surgery and chemotherapy, which has significantly improved the survival rate from 11% with surgery alone to 60-70% when surgery is co... Read More

Abstract: The rapid developments in imaging techniques and action of newer chemotherapeutic drugs have highlighted the limitations of response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) for assessing treatment response in soft tis... Read More

Abstract: The EWS/FLI1 oncogenic transcription factor is both unique to and indispensable to the development of Ewing’s Sarcoma and peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor (collectively known as the Ewing Sarcoma Family Tumors ... Read More

Abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a novel class of small, non-coding RNA transcripts that broadly regulate patterns of gene expression. Recently, we used Next Generation Sequencing to dentify 49 individual miRNAs differentially expre... Read More

Abstract: Recently levels of HIWI (the human ortholog of Drosophila PIWI) HIWI, have been found to be expressed in sarcomas with higher HIWI levels correlating significantly with worse clinical outcomes. In lower organisms, PIWI fam... Read More

Abstract: There is no effective medical therapy for patients with liposarcoma. We find that liposarcomas are dependent upon a constant supply of fatty acids to fuel their growth. Tumors may potentially acquire these lipids by a) de ... Read More

Abstract: Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) is an aggressive soft tissue sarcoma with a 2;13 translocation that generates a PAX3-FKHR fusion oncoprotein. Introduction of PAX3-FKHR into multiple cell types showed that this oncoprotein... Read More

Abstract: Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma (EMC) are soft tissue tumors occurring mainly in the extremities, most commonly the thigh and knee. In approximately 75% of these tumors, at (9;22) chromosome translocation is present. T... Read More

Abstract: Uterine leiomyosarcoma (ULMS) is a rare gynecologic malignancy that has a low survival rate. Currently, there is no effective treatment for ULMS. We have generated a mouse model of ULMS and demonstrated that the loss of BR... Read More

Abstract: SNF5, a core subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, is a potent tumor suppressor that is specifically mutated in several types of sarcoma.  It has been thought that oncogenesis in the absence of SNF5 occurs ... Read More

Abstract: Comparative genomic hybridization identified amplification of 1q23 to be associated with liposarcomas. Further analyses of 1q23 narrowed down the candidate “driver” genes to two; DUSP12 (encoding a dual-specificity pho... Read More

Abstract: Ewing’s sarcoma, a devastating disease in children and young adults, is in great need for a therapy.  Insulin-like Growth Factor type 1Receptor (IGF-1R) and Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) proved to be interesti... Read More

Abstract: The poor outcome of patients with advanced sarcomas underscores the rationale supporting novel therapeutic strategies.  Combination treatment with dasatinib and triciribine effectively blocks growth of sarcoma cell lines ... Read More

Abstract: Protein kinases play an important role in the pathogenesis of cancer.  Furthermore, kinases can be targeted by pharmaceutical agents to decrease tumor growth (i.e. EGFR, Her2, c-kit).  This project examines the role of s... Read More

Abstract: DNA methylation is part of a complex mechanism that regulates genes.  The goal of this proposal is to identify genes that are “turned off” by DNA methylation and contribute to Ewing Sarcoma tumor formation.  We will ... Read More

Abstract: A transgenic zebrafish model of embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma was recently created that is molecularly similar to human disease and from which the cancer stem cell has been identified, a cell most similar to the normal muscle... Read More

Abstract: Uterine leiomyosarcoma (ULMS) is characterized by its early metastases, frequent recurrences and poor outcome.  Using genome-wide transcriptional profiling, we have found that the Aurora A and B centrosomal kinases are ro... Read More

Abstract: Synovial Sarcoma is an aggressive soft tissue tumor (SS) that afflicts young adults. Its high fatality rate warrants the design of more efficient curative approaches. SS is characterized by a unique translocation that crea... Read More

Abstract: The development of effective drugs in the treatment of sarcomas is limited by the lack of reliable animal models of sarcomas. This is especially true for drugs that target not only tumor cells but also the interaction betw... Read More