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National Institutes of Health Clinical Center,  
Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center

The solid tumor program focuses on good clinical care of patients with pediatric sarcomas such as Ewing sarcoma, osteosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, desmoplastic small round cell tumor, synovial sarcoma and undifferentiated sarcoma. In addition, our service cares for pediatric patients with melanoma, kidney tumors, and other rare solid tumors. We seek to combine clinical expertise with translation of scientific endeavors to bring effective immunotherapy and targeted therapy to patients with high-risk diseases.

While tremendous strides have been made in pediatric oncology over the past decades, patients with metastatic sarcomas still face many difficulties. Pediatric sarcomas are often responsive to the initial multimodality therapies used in treatment, but metastatic sarcomas all too often recur and then can be more difficult to treat. We have several studies designed to target disease at these times of minimal disease but high risk of relapse. Our immunotherapy protocols are designed to harness the power of the immune system to target high-risk sarcoma cells before they become evident on scans. Our phase II targeting studies are often based on laboratory work done in the Pediatric Oncology Branch.

We are excited to partner with our POB Oncogenomics Section to gain molecular insight into these rare sarcomas and solid tumors. POB patients are able to enroll on a biology study for genomic sequencing and tissue banking of their tumor tisse. Understanding further mutations and gene alterations in these rare tumors will hopefully guide us to more targeted therapy and personalized medicine.

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