Researchers Find Molecule That Disrupts Ewing's Sarcoma Oncogene in Lab Study

May 2, 2008

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found a small molecule they say can block the action of the oncogene that causes Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare cancer found in children and young adults. If further studies continue to prove beneficial, they say the novel agent could be the first targeted therapy to treat the disease, which can produce tumors anywhere in the body.

The findings, presented last month at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in San Diego, suggest that the unique way in which this molecule works – through a so-called protein-protein interaction – could provide a model upon which to design other therapies, says the study’s lead investigator, Jeffrey Toretsky, M.D., a pediatric oncology physician and researcher at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“I think this holds really wonderful promise as a unique way of targeting fusion proteins,” he says. “People thought it wasn’t possible to have a small molecule that can bind between flexible proteins, but we have shown that it can be done.”

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