Dr. Rebecca A. Gladdy

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a diverse group of tumors derived from connective tissue (muscle, fat and bone).

Current treatment of STS is limited primarily to surgical procedures (e.g., removing the sarcoma), with selective use of radiation therapy and the use of conventional chemotherapy in some subtypes of the disease. Unfortunately, these treatment options are limited in their effectiveness and more than 50 per cent of STS patients succumb to this disease.

Researchers have recognized that there is an urgent need to develop subtype-specific molecularly targeted therapeutics that can provide new treatment options unique to each histologic type of sarcoma.

Our program has focused on developing novel therapies for: rhabdomyosarcoma, a tumor mainly found in children and adult sarcomas including leiomyosarcoma and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma.