Testing new drug combinations to treat pediatric soft tissue sarcomas
Official title: In Vivo Testing of Novel Drug Combinations for Pediatric Soft Tissue Sarcomas
Funded at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital · NIH-11537932 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A pediatric-focused research effort will test new drug combos in living models derived from children's tumors to find ways to improve survival and quality of life.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | St. Jude Children's Research Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Memphis, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2021 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $383,681 |
| NIH project number | 3U01CA263969-05S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11537932 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are children with soft tissue sarcomas whose tumors can be modeled in implanted patient-derived xenograft systems or whose tumor biology informs the tested agents.
✕Less likely to help
Patients whose tumor biology does not respond to the tested drug combinations may not experience direct benefit.
What this research studies
This project uses patient-derived cancer models to test combinations of drugs in vivo, aiming to identify promising therapies for children with soft tissue sarcomas. It builds on an established pipeline that evaluates treatments in orthotopic patient-derived xenograft models to reflect real pediatric tumors. The work integrates basic biology with preclinical testing to understand how developmental signaling, cellular stress responses, and cell-cycle checkpoints influence treatment responses. The study will continue in vivo testing during the final year of the grant, focusing on agents from the pipeline that target the highlighted pathways.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the research could identify drug combinations that improve survival and quality of life for children with soft tissue sarcomas.
How similar studies have gone: Previous preclinical testing pipelines using patient-derived models have guided effective combinations in other pediatric cancers, though this specific program is focused on pediatric STS.
Where this research is happening
-
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Memphis, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Dyer, Michael a — St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
- Study coordinator: Dyer, Michael a
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.