2020

$150,000 second year funding SARC for their continued work on looking at new targets for LMS, including the role of TP53, pten, Rb1, p13K and mTOR.[hr]

$100,000 to Matt van de Rijn to create a blood test to distinguish leiomyosarcoma from benign fibroids. This is a two-year project.

2019

$100,000 to SARC – Sarcoma Alliance for Research Collaboration.  A 2-year project looking at new targets for LMS, including the role of TP53, pten, p13K and mTOR.[hr]

2018

$42,000 awarded to Mathew Hemming MD PhD, Dana Farber.  2 year project: “Exploring Leiomyosarcoma Functional Genomics to Identify Disease Specific Vulnerabilities.”

$140,000 awarded to Dr. Matt van de Rijn for his continued work on LMS circulating DNA titled: Using Circulating Tumor DNA as a Measure of Tumor Load and Response to Therapy.

$74,000 awarded to Tatiana Omelchenko PhD of Sloan Memorial Kettering. Dr. Omelchenko’s project, “Identification of a novel treatment strategy for uterine leiomyosarcoma in genotype defined patient population,” will generate a genetically engineered mouse model based on genetic alterations found in uLMS patients and to model uLMS tumor growth inhibition. The $74,000 grant money for this specific project was raised and gifted by Kelly Kimball and Janine DiTullio (Executive Director.)

$10,000 sponsorship given to Kyle Floyd for his documentary, Kicking the Hornets Nest. This documentary documents the history of uterine morcellation and the consequences for women with leiomyosarcoma.

2017

$100,000 to be divided over 5 years ($20,000 a year) to Sarcoma Alliance for Research Through Collaboration (SARC.) This grant is to support LMS specific research such as:

1. Identification of “HDAC” as a novel target in LMS, and creating a multi-institution clinical trial to evaluate this new LMS treatment strategy.
2. Identification of dystrophin inactivation as a new cause of LMS. Dystrophin inactivation is also the most common cause of muscular dystrophy and many therapies are under development for these muscular dystrophies, some of which we hope will be effective for LMS.
3. Identification of CDK4-inhibition as a promising therapy in a subset of LMS patients. We are identifying more effective CDK4-inhibitors and discovering ways of maximizing LMS therapeutic response by combining CDK4-inhibition with LMS chemotherapies.
4. Studies to determine why only a few LMS patients respond to “immune checkpoint inhibitors”, which are the drugs that have captivated the oncology community in the past 3 years. We are seeking approaches to improve the activity of these drugs against LMS, so that LMS patients can also benefit from these therapies, in which each patient’s immune system is stimulated to attack the LMS cells.

$2,000 awarded to Gregory Cote MD, PhD at Massachusetts General Hospital for his project, ART Inhibition in ALT Positive Leiomyosarcoma and Osteosarcoma. Funded by the Lissy McMahon Memorial fund.

$40,000 awarded to Dr. Matt van de Rijn for his project titled: ROR2 and a Potential Target in Leiomyosarcoma.

$90,000 awarded to Dr. Matt van de Rijn for his continued work on LMS circulating DNA titled: Using Circulating Tumor DNA as a Measure of Tumor Load and Response to Therapy.

2016

$125,000 awarded from LMSdr to the international collaborative of Drs. Fletcher, van de Rijn, Chibon, Bauer and Langenau. Their study is titled: Maximizing Therapeutic Response in Leiomyosarcoma. This study was co-funded collaboratively with the Liddy Shriver Foundation and National Leiomyosarcoma Foundation. In this project they will sequence the genome of LMS tumors, investigate the P13K-AKT-mTor pathway, and test therapies with new cell lines, mice and zebra fish. Power Point Presentation from CTOS 2016

2015 $110,000 awarded to Dr. Matt van de Rijn for his continued circulating DNA research on leiomyosarcoma.

2014 Leiomyosarcoma Support & Research Foundation awards $110,000 to Dr. Matt van de Rijn for his LMS circulating tumor DNA research. The first goal of this research project is to find a blood test that allows a doctor to tell the difference between a benign leiomyoma (fibroid) in the uterus from a malignant leiomyosarcoma. The second goal would be to test individual leiomyosarcoma patients for any residual disease after treatments with a ctDNA blood test. Dr. van de Rijn also continues his other studies of leiomyosarcoma at the same time.

Results:

2011 Leiomyosarcoma Support & Research Foundation and the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative are pleased to announce the joint funding of a $50,000 research grant to Dr. Matt van de Rijn of Stanford University.Results:

2010 $25,000 was awarded to Dr. Sandra Orsulic of Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. This is the second installment of a $50,000 grant provided by LMSarcoma Direct Research Foundation. Dr. Orsulic has also received grants from NIH (R01-CA103924), Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative and the Sarcoma Foundation of America.Results:

2009 Leiomyosarcoma Support & Research Foundation awards a $50,000 research grant to Dr. van de Rijn of Stanford University for his ongoing investigations of leiomyosarcoma.Results:

$25,000 was awarded to Dr. Sandra Orsulic of Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. This is the first installment of a $50,000 grant provided by LMSarcoma Direct Research Foundation. Dr. Orsulic has also received grants from NIH (R01-CA103924), Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative and the Sarcoma Foundation of America

2008 LMSarcoma Direct Research Foundation awards a $50,000 research grant to Drs. Matt van de Rijn of Stanford University; Jonathan Fletcher of Dana Farber Cancer Center and Chris Coreless of Washington State University for a collaborative research project on leiomyosarcoma.Results

2007 LMSarcoma Direct Research Foundation grants $25,000 along with $25,000 from the Liddy Shriver Foundation ($50,000 total grant) to Dr. Eva Hernando of New York University School of Medicine for LMS research.Results:

2006 $40,000 granted to Dr. Matt van de Rijn at Stanford University to perform a microarray analysis of LMS from the paraffin tumor blocks donated by LMS patients worldwide to the LMS Tissue Bank at Stanford. Most of the above studies used these paraffin blocks