Myoepithelial Carcinoma Biology & Drug Discovery Program

Mission Objective: 

The goals of this multi-year research program aim to answer the fundamental questions about Myoepithelial Carcinoma (MEC) biology and treatments. MEC is a rare cancer of children, teenagers and adults that can arise from the salivary glands, kidney, and sometimes from soft tissue like muscle. Due to the absolute rarity of this cancer, there is a biological lack of understanding of this disease and no treatment options specific to MEC currently exist. cc-TDI is looking to change that.

Specifically, cc-TDI scientists are interested in further understanding the mutations fusing the EWSR1 gene to another gene in MEC. The EWSR1-KLF15 gene fusion, and related gene fusions, are believed to be responsible for the development and progression of this disease. Through the development of a biobank registry, sequencing effort, cell line & mouse model resource, and EWSR1-KLF15 biology program, this project aims to offer resources that will be used by scientists around the world working to discover treatment options for MEC with the EWSR1-KLF15 fusion.

About The Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute:  

The Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute (www.cc-tdi.org) is a unique 501c3 non-profit organization focused on the ‘preclinical gap’ in childhood cancer research. cc-TDI is an Oregon Health & Science University spin-out. cc-TDI was built to complement the Children’s Oncology Group & related clinical trial networks while synergizing with both academic laboratories and pharma R&D laboratories. Our mission is to bridge scientific discovery and the initiation of clinical trials. Through our efforts, we provide evidence-based testing for the selection of new drugs to be used in childhood cancer clinical trials, thus seeding pediatric Phase I and II trials. This concept was emphasized in the Institute of Medicine Report, Making Better Drugs for Children with Cancer in 2005. The goal of cc-TDI is to fill this needed role. cc-TDI is a blend of an academic lab with engineering-enabled biotech capabilities (we employ BS, MSc and PhD engineers). We have the added administrative freedom to operate/collaborate widely and nimbly within the scope of our focused mission. Our deliverable are not only peer-reviewed publications (52 since 2015) and NIH grant funding, but also the initiation of national cooperative group trials. In our first 33 months, we delivered 2 drugs from our Nature Medicine, Genes&Development andScienceSignaling publications into clinical trials for childhood brain tumors (NCT02717455) and sarcomas (NCT02780804, with a follow-on phase II concept in development, plus European study NCT03838042).

For more information on how you or your child can participate in this research study, click here.