Pediatric brain tumors are one of the most common malignancies among children and have been one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the recent times. More than 4000 children in the U.S are diagnosed with some form of pediatric brain tumor everyday ranging from the low grade to the high grade tumors and about 7% of the reported brain tumors occur in children with ages between 0-19 years. High grade tumors like glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are especially difficult to treat since they grow and spread very rapidly within the brain tissue.

Primary brain tumors are one of the most common solid neoplasms in children, and they are a leading cause of cancer-related mortality. In particular, pediatric high grade gliomas are clinically devastating tumors, with associated 5-year survival rates of less than 20%. The current treatment for these cancers begins with surgical removal of the tumor, followed by radiation therapy (RT) and chemotherapy. RT consists of ionizing radiation (IR), which kills residual tumor cells by inducing DNA breaks in the genomes of these cells.

Neuroblastoma is one of the most common forms of cancer in childhood, and approximately 700 young children are diagnosed with this tumor each year in the United States alone. The disease is very aggressive, and despite various forms of treatment such as chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, more than one third of all patients with advanced-stage disease will eventually die. The patients who survive are stricken with the long-term side effects of highly toxic treatments. Thus, more targeted therapies that kill the cancer but spare healthy tissue are urgently needed.

Brain tumors are the most common solid tumors in children. High Grade Gliomas (HGG) constitute nearly 20% of all childhood brain tumors. These tumors are particularly difficult to treat and usually do not respond to even the most aggressive therapy, such that the expected survival seldom exceeds 24 months with less than 25% patients surviving 5 years from the diagnosis. It is therefore desirable to develop novel therapies that could improve these disappointing outcomes. Immune system based therapies have the potential to fulfill this dire need.

The Galindo lab's research is built upon a fundamental interest in the mechanisms responsible for childhood cancer. The lab focuses on tumors that grow from the soft tissues (e.g., muscle, fat), called sarcomas, which are notoriously aggressive, and prefer childhood tissues. Little is understood about sarcoma biology, explaining why they have been difficult to study, and cure. We investigate the most common soft tissue sarcoma, the muscle-type tumor rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS).