Deciphering the Immune Microenvironment in Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma

Dr. Brian Ladle - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

More effective and less toxic therapies are desperately needed for rhabdomyosarcoma, specifically alveolar fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma. While immune-based therapies have shown promise in other cancers, they have not proven effective again rhabdomyosarcoma. We have shown that the immune system is not ignoring these rhabdomyosarcoma tumors, but they are infiltrated with various immune cell types. However, models do not exist to study the interactions between the immune system and rhabdomyosarcoma that allow us to understand the mechanisms driving these interactions and test new immune-based treatment strategies. Our proposal investigates the immune/tumor cell interactions in a mouse model of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, compares the findings in the mouse tumors with human tumors, and characterizes the immune cells present in the mouse tumors. This work will provide a foundation for future studies furthering deciphering the interaction between fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma and the immune system and how we can design effective immune-based therapies to treat and eradicate this aggressive cancer.