NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
Ancestry and Pharmacogenomics of Relapse in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Nature Genetics
February 6, 2011
Epub ahead of print
In a letter published in Nature Genetics, pediatric researchers found that Native American ancestry is genetically linked with an increased risk of relapse in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children. Various clinical studies have reported poorer survival among pediatric patients of self-reported African American or Hispanic ethnicity, as compared with either European American or Asian descent. Herein, the investigators use pharmacogenomics strategies to provide the first genome-wide association study to show a heritable genetic basis for ethnic disparities in cancer survival. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the increased risk of relapse due to ancestry can be eliminated by incorporating an additional single phase of chemotherapy. These findings outline how genomics studies can lead to modifications in therapy that will result in better outcomes for cancer patients.
TARGETing Genomic Mutations in Childhood Cancers to Make Therapeutic Advances
December 6, 2010
With supplemental funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, TARGET is making significant strides toward completing comprehensive genomic profiling of five high-risk pediatric cancers, including neuroblastoma. In this article, John Maris, M.D., chief of the Division of Oncology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, explains how Recovery Act funds are enabling researchers to advance TARGET's goal with 2nd and 3rd generation sequencing technologies, to discover key mutations that drive these childhood diseases so new and more-effective therapies can be rapidly developed.
Read the full article.
View the video.
Cancer in America
The Cancer You Can Beat
Parade Magazine
June 20, 2010
NIH Director Francis Collins highlights the role of genomics research in the development of targeted drugs and tailored treatments to fit each patient's tumor. Read the Parade article and visit the NIH webpage, Genomic Profiling, to learn more about the potential benefits that genomics research programs like TARGET contribute toward cancer.
Outcomes for Children and Adolescents With Cancer: Challenges for the Twenty-First Century
Journal of Clinical Oncology
May 20, 2010
Leaders from the NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) and the Children's Oncology Group provide an overview of the most current childhood cancer statistics, an analysis of the impact past research discoveries have had on survival and treatment outcomes, and essential information for prioritizing future treatment and research directions.
September 24, 2009
As part of the National Cancer Institute's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to significantly enhance cancer research, the Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) Initiative was awarded $25 million to expand research on the molecular basis of childhood cancers.
Each year, more than 10,000 children will be diagnosed with cancer. The Recovery Act funds will allow TARGET to further progress its research for two current TARGET projects on acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and neuroblastoma, and expand to include molecular characterization of three additional childhood cancers including acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), osteosarcoma and Wilms tumor. The funds will also be used to increase sequencing capacity to support the goals of the expanded program.
Learn more about our TARGET collaborators and cancers selected for study.
January 13, 2009
NCI Cancer Bulletin
Volume 6 / Number 1
This “Special Report” in the NCI Cancer Bulletin features the first results from the TARGET Initiative, highlighting the discovery of the genetic changes associated with children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and their risk for relapse. TARGET collaborators analyzed two independent groups of ALL patients with high rates of relapse and revealed that the gene mutation of IKAROS (or IKZF1) increased the risk for recurrence, which may help to explain why chemotherapy fails for some patients. These findings could lead to genetic tests that identify ALL patients at high risk for relapse and those who may benefit from more aggressive treatments.
November 21, 2006
NCI Cancer Bulletin
Volume 3 / Number 45
Dr. Malcolm Smith, Associate Branch Chief for Pediatrics, Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, discusses the TARGET Initiative: the reasons behind this pilot project, the primary areas of research focus, and the collaborators involved in establishing TARGET.
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