Targeting Shared Vulnerabilities in ALT Cancers to Improve Therapy
Official title: Targeting Shared Vulnerabilities in Alternate Telomere Lengthening (ALT) Cancers
Funded at Texas Tech University Health Scis Center · NIH-11257313 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This NIH grant aims to understand and target weaknesses in cancers that use ALT to maintain telomeres, with the goal of making tumors more responsive to treatment.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Texas Tech University Health Scis Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Lubbock, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2022 |
| Project end | August 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $384,099 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA264949-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11257313 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Patients with ALT-positive cancers or those whose tumors show ATM activation and related biomarkers.
✕Less likely to help
Patients whose cancers do not rely on ALT for telomere maintenance or lack the studied biomarkers may not benefit from these approaches.
What this research studies
If this project succeeds, it could lead to new ways to treat ALT-positive cancers by targeting their unique telomere maintenance and DNA damage response features. The work centers on identifying biomarkers like C-circles and ATM kinase activity to guide future therapies. Researchers will study human cancer samples and relevant models to reveal how ALT cancers resist standard treatments and how ATM inhibitors might overcome that resistance. The findings could pave the way for more effective, personalized treatments for patients with ALT-driven tumors.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Potentially more effective, targeted therapies for ALT-positive cancers, improving outcomes for patients with these tumors.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work has linked ATM activation to treatment resistance in ALT cancers and shown that ATM inhibitors can reverse this resistance in preclinical models.
Where this research is happening
-
Texas Tech University Health Scis Center
Lubbock, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Reynolds, Charles Patrick — Texas Tech University Health Scis Center
- Study coordinator: Reynolds, Charles Patrick
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.