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Cancer continues to be a leading cause of death globally. However, there remains a significant disparity in the reported incidence of cancer in developed countries, estimated to be 295.3 cases per 100,000 people, compared with only 115.7 in developing countries. Some of the reasons for this variation include lack of robust data collection with limited reporting systems, and insufficient data availability in the registries of these developing nations.

Research

Infants with KMT2A-rearranged B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have a dismal prognosis. Survival outcomes have remained static in recent decades despite treatment intensification and novel therapies are urgently required.

Research

Supratentorial RELA fusion (ST-RELA) ependymomas (EPNs) are resistant tumors without an approved chemotherapeutic treatment. Unfortunately, the molecular mechanisms that lead to chemoresistance traits of ST-RELA remain elusive. The aim of this study was to assess RELA fusion-dependent signaling modules, specifically the role of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway as a novel targetable vulnerability in ST-RELA.

Research

T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL) is a rare and aggressive lymphatic cancer, often diagnosed at a young age. Patients are treated with intensive chemotherapy, potentially followed by a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Although prognosis of T-LBL has improved with intensified treatment protocols, they are associated with side effects and 10-20% of patients still die from relapsed or refractory disease. Given this, the search toward less toxic anti-lymphoma therapies is ongoing.

Research

Research has shown differences in how fathers and mothers respond to a child's cancer diagnosis. Previous studies have highlighted that sociocultural norm shape fathers' experiences of their child's cancer diagnosis. Our phenomenological qualitative study aimed to examine the lived experiences of fathers whose children have been diagnosed with cancer and explore the impact of sociocultural gender roles.

Research

Esophageal cancer is a highly aggressive malignancy with a low response to standard anti-cancer therapies. There is an unmet need to develop new therapeutic strategies to improve the clinical outcomes of current treatments. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is a promising approach for cancer treatment, and has displayed anticancer efficacy in multiple preclinical models. Recent studies have shown that the efficacy of CAP is positively correlated with intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels.

Research

Acute leukemia continues to be a major cause of death from disease worldwide and current chemotherapeutic agents are associated with significant morbidity in survivors. While better and safer treatments for acute leukemia are urgently needed, standard drug development pipelines are lengthy and drug repurposing therefore provides a promising approach.

Research

Chemotherapy is included in treatment regimens for many solid cancers, but when administered as a single agent it is rarely curative. The addition of immune checkpoint therapy to standard chemotherapy regimens has improved response rates and increased survival in some cancers. However, most patients do not respond to treatment and immune checkpoint therapy can cause severe side effects. Therefore, there is a need for alternative immunomodulatory drugs that enhance chemotherapy.

Research

Transcriptional cofactors of the ETO family are recurrent fusion partners in acute leukemia. We characterized the ETO2 regulome by integrating transcriptomic and chromatin binding analyses in human erythroleukemia xenografts and controlled ETO2 depletion models. We demonstrate that beyond its well-established repressive activity, ETO2 directly activates transcription of MYB, among other genes.

Research

PEGasparaginase is known to be a critical drug for treating pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), however, there is insufficient evidence to determine the optimal dose for infants who are less than one year of age at diagnosis. This international study was conducted to identify the pharmacokinetics of PEGasparaginase in infants with newly diagnosed ALL and gather insight into the clearance and dosing of this population.