Sarcoma Research and Clinical Trials at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center

Sarcomas are cancerous tumors that arise in the bones and connective tissue of the body. Connective tissue includes: fat, blood vessels, nerves, muscles, deep skin tissues, and cartilage. Sarcoma is very rare, with about 12,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the US.

The MUSC Hollings Cancer Center has one of the leading sarcoma treatment and research programs in the Southeastern United States, with a team including experienced physicians and scientists who explore to develop better therapies to slow it down and potentially cure it. Funds raised at Swing for a Cure will help make an impact on this rare disease by funding the following programs:

• Clinical Trails - Every drug that has ever made a difference in cancer treatment was once part of a clinical trial. The Hollings Cancer Center offers clinical trials for sarcoma that aren't available elsewhere in South Carolina.
• Tissue Banking - Building a tissue bank for sarcomas helps scientists better understand what causes this rare disease, which treatment options are likely to be effective, and how to improve patient care in years to come.
• Clinical and Basic Science Research - Scientists are studying sarcoma tumors and the various causes for highly aggressive tumors. This research takes scientific discoveries out of the laboratory and improves the care and outcomes provided to patients.

Most recently, The Thaxton Lab at Hollings Cancer Center has discovered the mechanism through which T cells lose energy in tumors when fighting sarcomas. This discovery will aid novel therapeutic strategies that increase T cell persistence against sarcomas through energy conservation. For soft tissue sarcomas, this work may allow patients to become responsive to an array of immunotherapies not yet FDA approved for the disease.

HCC has developed a biomarker (mtROS) to identify T cells that have lost energy in tumors. This biomarker is highly expressed in T cells in sarcomas.

Dr. Jessica Thaxton and her team have found that restoring energy loss in T cells in tumors leads to effective response immunotherapies in a mouse model of sarcoma.