Seattle Children’s Hospital
Optimizing safety and efficacy of anthracyclines in Ewing sarcoma
Elizabeth Lawlor, MD, PhD
Ewing sarcoma is a very aggressive tumor that most commonly shows up during adolescence. Over the past 30 years, advances in treatment for these patients have been minimal, and outcomes for patients whose cancers relapse or metastasize remain dismal. Dr. Elizabeth Lawlor is a physician-scientist and Professor of Pediatrics at the Seattle Children’s Hospital is focused on improvement of existing therapies to make them safer and more effective. Dr. Lawlor is working with aclararubicin (ACLA) which is a derivative of a currently used drug (DOXO). At a molecular level, it appears that ACLA and DOXO, the current drug, differ slightly in how they work inside a tumor cell, and Dr. Lawlor’s data suggests that this new derivative will not cause damage to the heart during treatment which is a significant problem today for Ewings Sarcoma patients. With funding from CURE Childhood Cancer, Dr. Lawlor will complete preclinical evaluation to enable testing directly in Ewings patients to see if ACLA is a less toxic alternative for current treatment.
CURE Childhood Cancer’s mission is to conquer childhood cancer through funding targeted research while supporting patients and their families. CURE invests millions of dollars each year into the most promising childhood cancer research, working to ensure children have the best chance to survive their cancer without sacrificing their future health and quality of life.
