Our Impact
The Caroline Symmes Children’s Cancer Endowment has:
- Helped to develop research infrastructure and model development to begin unraveling the molecular underpinnings that drive aggressive solid tumors.
- Riley is starting to see patients with solid tumors and develop personalized plans that are creating successful results
- Helped to develop novel preclinical models for investigation of aggressive pediatric solid tumors
- The models allow the team to better understand the Wilms Tumor and now ask scientific questions and explore new therapeutic options that are CRITICALLY needed for patients with aggressive cancers
- The researchers have learned and tested multiple inhibitors including JAK1/2 and exportin 1
- They are learning to identify better molecular markers for Wilms Tumor
- Allowed the Cancer Center research team to investigate targeted and combination therapies for better clinical outcomes through extensive analysis of genomes of the tumor
- The Riley researchers are able to work with relapsed and aggressive cancer patients through genetic sequencing to provide answers and combination therapies to patient families faster
- Facilitated the cryo-preservation and use of tumors in research from the cell lines generated by researchers
- This is an important step in developing therapeutic options as pediatric cancers are different than adult cancers
- Bio-banking helps to look at tumors in various stages of cancer and regression
- Genetic changes will happen even after getting treatment and genetic changes contribute to the difficulty in treating aggressive cancers.
- Using relapsed tumors and developing models in animals and cell lines to study combinations help to get the best outcomes
