Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA):

The mission of the Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA) is to advocate for sarcoma patients by funding research and by increasing awareness about the disease. The organization raises money to privately fund grants for sarcoma researchers and conducts education and advocacy efforts on behalf of sarcoma patients.

SFA Goals:

Eliminate pain and suffering due to sarcoma by:

Funding translational research grants that will lead to new sarcoma therapies
Advocating for increased government funding against sarcoma
Creating alliances with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries to rapidly develop new and better sarcoma treatments
Increasing public awareness regarding early detection of sarcoma
Educating sarcoma patients regarding access to optimal sarcoma care
Advocating for early access by sarcoma patients to promising agents developed for other cancer types.

You can find more information about the SFA on their website: www.curesarcoma.org

Siteman Cancer Center:

The Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine is an international leader in cancer treatment, research, preventon, education and community outreach. It is the only cancer center in Missouri to hold the prestigious Comprehensive Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute and membership in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Parent institutions Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine also are nationally recognized, with U.S. News & World Report magazine consistently ranking both among the best in the country.

Siteman offers the expertise of more than 350 Washington University research scientists and physicians who provide care for nearly 9,000 newly diagnosed cancer patients each year. A full range of advanced diagnostic and treatment services are available for patients with all types of cancer. Siteman also offers patients access to support services throughout their care.

Dr. Brian Van Tine’s Sarcoma Research at Siteman:

We study cancer metabolism using metabolomics to develop novel therapeutic strategies for rare tumors. Sarcomas are group of over 100 types of tumors of mesenchymal origin that can be divided into 2 categories: soft tissue sarcomas and bone sarcomas. We have demonstrated that argininosuccinate synthase 1 (ASS1) is lost in 88% of all sarcomas. This is an exploitable biomarker that correlates with poor prognosis for sarcoma. When ASS1 is not expressed, arginine becomes an essential amino acid that must be delivered by the diet. We are testing whether the ASS1-deficiency of sarcomas may be exploited using the arginine-lowering agent, pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG20) in vitro and in animal models. By exploiting autophagy induction, we hope to cause cell death using this agent in combination with others. In addition, we have identified other duel metabolic therapies that can be used instead of chemotherapy that also lead to cell death. Finally, we are launching an omics project in angiosarcoma this year to identify new targets for therapy by looking at the metabolome, phosphor-proteome, and DNA and RNA genome of patients.

You can find out more about Siteman Cancer Center on their website: https://siteman.wustl.edu/