Sarcoma Awareness Month: 2021 Immunotherapy Research Updates July 14, 2021December 14, 2022 CRI Staff In January, the Cancer Research Institute shared online for the first time 19 original monographs by Helen Coley Nauts. After she discovered her father William B. Coley’s work, she compiled information on more than 1,000 people with cancer who were treated with her father’s approach. These works continue to make an impact today. Former CRI Fellow Corrie Painter, PhD, came across these monographs after she was diagnosed with angiosarcoma in 2010: “In these I found five angiosarcoma patients that he treated and four had complete and durable remissions. That is the path that then led me to the Cancer Research Institute and all my subsequent work.” This July for Sarcoma Awareness Month, we look at new research, new treatments, and how we’re working toward a future immune to sarcoma. Interview with Cassian Yee Cassian Yee, MD, the CRI-Chordoma Foundation CLIP Investigator at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, is looking to better understand the antigen markers that CD8 “killer” T cells use to target chordoma tumor cells in order to develop better cell therapies for cancer. We spoke in depth with Yee to learn more about how he’s progressing in tackling this challenge and what his efforts might mean for the cancer immunotherapy field at large. MEET CASSIAN Sarcoma Quiz New Sarcoma Research CRI CLIP Investigator Michele Woei Ling Teng, PhD, of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute aims to understand the mechanism by which an unconventional type of immune cell known as MAIT cells suppress immune responses against tumors. She is exploring therapeutic strategies to block the immunosuppressive activity of MAIT cells alone and in combination with approved immunotherapies in pre-clinical mouse models of sarcoma and liver cancer. MEET MICHELE Sarcoma Patient Story At age sixteen, Carley Rutledge was diagnosed with stage 4 Ewing sarcoma. After chemotherapy and radiation failed to keep her in remission, she decided to try an experimental immunotherapy called FANG (now called Vigil™), which uses her own tumor cells as a vaccine. Today, Carley is happy and healthy. MEET CARLEY Immunotherapy for Sarcoma Information Updated The U.S. FDA approved pembrolizumab, a PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, for biomarker-based indications in solid tumors, including sarcomas: high microsatellite instability (MSI-H), DNA mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR), and high tumor mutational burden (TMB-H). As the research and treatment landscape evolves, we keep our information up to date. VIEW Sarcoma UPDATE Find a Sarcoma Clinical Trial A variety of new and promising cancer immunotherapy treatments are only available to patients in clinical trials. Help speed the development of potentially lifesaving drugs. Discover trials for which you or a loved one may be eligible with the CRI Immunotherapy Clinical Trial Finder. FIND A cancer clinical TRIAL Support Sarcoma Research CRI Fellow Livnat Jerby-Arnon, PhD, CRI Scientific Advisory Council member Kai W. Wucherpfennig, PhD, and team at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have been studying immune evasion in synovial sarcoma. They combined several technologies—including single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial profiling, and genetic and pharmacological perturbations—to study why certain patients were less likely to respond to treatment. They also tested a combination therapy to stimulate immune response. This Sarcoma Awareness Month, support lifesaving cancer immunotherapy research. DONATE to Sarcoma research Read more: Post navigation Sarcoma Awareness Month: Tackling Chordoma with Dr. Cassian Yee Read Story Netflix and Fundraise for Cancer Research Read Story
