Damon Runyon Researchers

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive hematologic malignancy, accounting for 10-15% of pediatric and 25% of adult ALL cases. While survival rates have improved with intensified treatment regimens, 25% of pediatric T-ALL cases still relapse because of refractory disease. Furthermore, the intensity of these treatment regimens has led to increased secondary effects in these children later in life. This underscores the need for the development of efficient, targeted and highly specific anti-leukemic therapies to treat T-ALL. Dr. Rashkovan studies a distinct subgroup of immature T-ALL, ETP-ALL, which phenotypically resembles early thymic progenitors (ETPs), has been associated with early relapse, and poor prognosis. There is a particularly urgent need for targeted therapies for ETP-ALL, which is notoriously difficult to treat. She will assess the metabolic vulnerabilities of ETP-ALL in order to propose new, targeted therapies which could be beneficial for the treatment of this high-risk leukemia group.