Fall 2003 Newsletter: Discovery of Molecular Determinants that Influence Anticancer Drug Response and Toxicity in Patients with Sarcoma

$500,000 Grant Award to Ramamoorthy Nagasubramanian, M.D. Instructor Department of Pediatrics University of Chicago Medical Center

TThis award will establish a Pediatric Pharmacogenetics Program at the University of Chicago. Pharmacogenetics is the study of variations in genes that determine an individualís response to drug therapy.

The goal of this research proposal is to discover inherited traits and molecular determinants that influence anticancer drug response and toxicity in patients with sarcoma (malignant cancer of the bone, muscle and other connective tissues). Dr. Naga proposes that the response and survival outcomes in these patients may be related to levels of expression of various genes that influence tumor properties such as growth rate, invasiveness, metastasis and response to chemotherapy.

A clinical by-product will be the treatment of children and adults with sarcoma according to risk-adapted therapy that involves tailoring the intensity of multi-agent chemotherapy protocols to each patient’s risk of relapse and toxicity. Applying the principles of pharmacogenomics to the development of new therapies could lead to improved survival rates.