NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
September 24, 2009
As part of the National Cancer Institute’s American Recovery and Reinvestmant 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. [Read More]
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. [Read More]
