MUSC Scientist Awarded Grant to Advance Ewing Sarcoma Research

MUSC Scientist Receives Career Development Award from the Rally Foundation

The Rally Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness and funds for childhood cancer research, has awarded a career development grant to Casey Langdon, Ph.D., a researcher at the MUSC (Medical University of South Carolina). Langdon, who is an assistant professor affiliated with both Hollings Cancer Center and the Darby Children’s Research Institute at MUSC, will use the grant to expand his research into treatments for Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer that predominantly affects adolescents.

Aiming to Improve Ewing Sarcoma Treatment

Langdon will investigate whether a combination of drugs, already approved by the FDA for other cancers, can be repurposed to reduce the viability and proliferation of Ewing sarcoma cells and suppress their ability to invade other tissues. There has been significant interest in developing AKT inhibitors for cancer treatments, with the first drug of this type approved as recently as last year. The AKT protein serves as a signaling node in a cellular pathway that is crucial for cell growth, survival, and migration.

Furthermore, Langdon’s team has identified another FDA-approved drug that exhibits significant synergy with AKT inhibition. The grant will enable the team to deeply explore the underlying mechanism of this synergy in Ewing sarcoma treatment.

Advancing Ewing Sarcoma Research

Langdon aims to uncover more about the basic biology driving Ewing sarcomas and use this information to inform possible treatments. “They’re [Ewing sarcoma patients] getting the same treatments that they got in the early 2000s. A goal of the program is to figure out more about the basic biology of what’s driving these sarcomas and using that information to inform possible treatments that we could use to develop clinical trials to help these patients,” he said.

Around 250 people are diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma each year. Despite the rarity of the disease, its impact on the diagnosed individual and their family emphasizes the imperative need for improved treatment methods.

Backing Pediatric Cancer Research

Langdon’s personal connection to cancer and its devastating impact on families steered him toward his passion for researching pediatric cancer treatments. Guided by his experiences at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital during his fellowship and further inspired by the cooperative environment at MUSC, Langdon is determined to make a significant impact with his research.

The Rally Foundation’s award will support Langdon’s continuing research. He hopes the insights derived from this study will also be fruitful in understanding and treating other types of sarcomas which, combined with other similar conditions, account for about 15% of all childhood cancers.

In a field where every small breakthrough brings invaluable hope to affected individuals and their families, the support and resources provided by this award reaffirm the collaborative efforts of committed scientists and organizations in the fight against cancer.