Rein in Sarcoma is excited to announce a $54,000 sarcoma research grant has been awarded to Case Western Reserve University.
Case Western Reserve University: Identification of new strategies to therapeutically intervene for rhabdomyosarcomas
Principal Investigator: Berkley E. Gryder, Ph.D.
Project summary:
This project will expand the identification of new strategies to therapeutically intervene for rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS) driven by PAX3-FOXO1 and MYCN and treat cells with different drugs, at a variety of concentrations, in order to determine how potent they are against RMS cell lines. Research will perform RNA-seq after treatment with a panel of drugs, at various concentrations/time points, to see if the potency of drugs is directly related to how well each drug can shut down the genes that are driven by PAX3-FOXO1 and MYCN. Researchers will perform epigenetic experiments, such as 3D HiChIP, to learn how these genetic alterations are changing the epigenome of the tumor cells.
This year, you can attend virtually or in-person at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. Some sessions may be recorded and will be available on YouTube after the event, but we recommend attending live as some in-progress research updates cannot be posted.
This conference is free for all attendees. Parking vouchers and a box lunch will be provided to all in-person attendees.
Rein in Sarcomas supporter, Dr. Brittany L. Siontis, was recently interviewed by The Seam to discuss sarcoma and advances in research. Dr Siontis currently serves as the Principal Investigator of several active clinical trials at Mayo Clinic through the Sarcoma Medical Oncology Group. This was a great opportunity to raise awareness of sarcoma cancer and reach a larger audience.
Rein in Sarcoma and Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota are excited to sponsor the 2022 Minnesota Sarcoma Research Conference: Progress and Promise.
The symposium will feature talks from leaders in sarcoma research and a poster session with sarcoma research projects from graduate students. The event will be a forum for researchers to share findings with RIS stakeholders and students, and to further the collaboration among RIS-sponsored researchers.
The event will be held in person at the University of Minnesota CCRC building on Friday, March 25, 2022 from approximately 8:00 am- 3:00 pm. There will be a virtual option to attend the event.
Back in 2004 when Rein in Sarcoma awarded its first $10,000 research grant, it felt like a giant step along an uncharted path. Looking back, it now seems the initial $10,000 ‘seed’ has grown into a tall, broad, bright sunflower.
That first grant funded research overseen by Logan Spector, Ph.D., director of the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of Minnesota. Spector recalled that he received the grant around the end of the first era of genetic exploration. He used the grant money to launch The Genetics of Osteosarcoma (GO) Study involving the collection of DNA samples at the University of Minnesota.
But Spector thought he could do more, so he took what he’d started with Rein in Sarcoma and applied for a multi-million dollar medical research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He got it.
The NIH money went toward one of the last candidate gene studies it ever funded. Why was it one of the last? Because technology had advanced into breakthrough areas that would allow researchers to do things like drop DNA onto a chip containing a million markers — to isolate the critical 1-4 markers that point to why a specific patient got sarcoma cancer.
Spector credits Rein in Sarcoma with being the spark that ignited the interest and funding that have led to nearly two decades of progress. Said Spector, “It was the Rein in Sarcoma funding that allowed us to prove we could get DNA samples from patients. That provided the base for all the next steps.”
Given that sarcoma cancer research faces enormous roadblocks, Spector’s and Rein in Sarcoma’s accomplishments are extraordinary.
Most medical research funding goes toward diseases that impact a greater percent of the population. Additionally, there are more than 70 types of sarcoma cancers. Each requires a different treatment depending on the sarcoma’s type, location and other factors.1
The American Cancer Society described sarcoma research challenges on its website, saying, “Because soft tissue sarcomas are rare and there are so many different types, it’s been hard to study it well.”2
While osteosarcoma is not a soft tissue sarcoma, it shares the characteristics of being rare, with many different types. It makes it hard to know where to begin!
In fact, the community of patients, families, medical providers and researchers that band together to raise money for sarcoma research are truly among the most influential forces in play. Rein in Sarcoma provides a gathering place, a way to share insights and information, and serves as a catalyst to combine each person’s efforts, build bridges, and ensure that research dollars are used as intended.
More and more entities are recognizing philanthropy-driven medical research as a powerful influence that helps researchers find answers that may prevent and treat lesser known diseases.
A 2018 Philanthropy Journal article by Becky Chapman Weaver, chief mission officer for a nonprofit, sums it up well:
“Medical philanthropy can play an outsized role in catalyzing and jumpstarting innovation. Without donors and volunteers, some of today’s life-saving treatments simply would not exist.”3
Chapman Weaver goes on to say, “Look behind almost every medical breakthrough, and you’ll see many years of smaller discoveries, each building upon the last. These steps are often unseen, much like our donors and volunteers, but they are crucial to research.”3
Regarding Rein in Sarcoma’s leadership in fundraising and distributing research grants, the impact goes well beyond the lab. Spector says that the mission has attracted students to the field. Some want to continue the research. Others want to serve as medical practitioners. What unites the patients, families, researchers and practitioners is that they all want to make a difference. And they do.
3 Chapman Weaver, Becky. A Nonprofit’s Role in Medical Research. Published January 2, 2018. Accessed August 21, 2021. https://pj.news.chass.ncsu.edu/2018/01/02/a-nonprofits-role-in-medical-research/
Rein in Sarcoma has awarded $40,000 in new sarcoma research grants to Children’s Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic. The grants were announced during the recent virtual Fall Fundraiser. The RIS Research Committee reviews the top proposals brought forward by each institution’s evaluation committee, and recommends final awards to the RIS Board of Directors for approval.
Children’s Minnesota: DICER1-related sarcomas
Dr. Kris Ann Schultz
Dr. Damon Olson
Co-Principal Investigator: Kris Ann Schultz, MD – Pediatric Oncologist
Project summary: DICER1-related sarcomas include pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB), renal sarcoma, ovarian, cervical and uterine sarcoma, renal sarcoma and a newly-described tumor type, PPB-like peritoneal sarcoma which may arise from peritoneal structures. In this proposal, we will leverage our prior Rein in Sarcoma funding and R01-funded existing PPB-related research activities to include additional data collection regarding specific DICER1-related sarcomas. Development of this additional collated data source is the next necessary step toward our goal of understanding the best treatment regimens for children and adults with DICER1-related sarcomas.
The overall goal of our research program is to improve outcomes for children and adults with DICER1- related cancers through early detection and the development of more effective and less toxic therapies.
Mayo Clinic: Clinical and laboratory tools to evaluate treatment tolerability in older patients with soft tissue sarcoma
Dr. Thanh Ho
Principal Investigator: Thanh Ho, M.D. Assistant Professor of Oncology, Division of Medical Oncology Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Co-Investigators: Co-Investigators: Nathan K. LeBrasseur, Ph.D., M.S. Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Robert & Arlene Kogod Center on Aging Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN Steven I. Robinson, M.B.B.S. Assistant Professor of Oncology, Division of Medical Oncology Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Project summary: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are rare, encompass multiple subtypes, and have few established guidelines. For older patients (age 65 and above) with locally advanced or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma, treatment often involves systemic therapy. Geriatric assessments and screening tools are recommended as part of multidisciplinary care for older patients with cancer, 1 but they are not widely used in clinical practice. This pilot study will prospectively evaluate older patients with STS who are followed in the medical oncology sarcoma clinic in Rochester MN; this will include patients who are newly diagnosed or receiving systemic therapy. Patients will undergo geriatric screening as well as laboratory testing. Laboratory testing will include routine complete blood counts (CBC) that are associated with poor outcomes in STS, as well as circulating senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) proteins associated with frailty. 2 The findings will strengthen the multidisciplinary approach to our older patients’ sarcoma care.
