LMS Research Fund Projects

LMRSF has initiated 3 specific research projects that we expect to contribute to improving outcomes for LMS patients worldwide:

  • Due to begin in September 2024, LMRSF has committed to underwrite the costs at ICR and The Royal Marsden for an initial 2½ year period to use a combination of data science, AI and pathology expertise to analyse The Royal Marsden Hospital’s catalogue of existing and new LMS records and pathology samples.  We expect this unique record, combined with the use of AI and data science expertise, to be the basis from which we build research to discover new biomarkers, define LMS molecular sub-types, characterise disease and immune pathways, and identify new drug targets.

    Our initial investment of $0.5m in the LMS Pathology and Data Project is to test the effectiveness of this approach.  We will expand the project with further investment and seek additional external financial backing if early milestone achievement is as promising as we expect it to be.

  • LMRSF, with the additional support of another private charitable trust, is in the process of setting up an innovative small cohort-based investigator-led study using intra-lesional autologous cell therapy for LMS patients.  The study is the brainchild of LMRSF’s Scientific Advisory Board which has extensive experience of sarcoma, LMS and immunotherapy.

    An investment totalling $1.5m has been committed to support the set-up process of the study.

  • We are working with Dr Sizun Jiang’s lab (The Jiang Lab) at Harvard Medical School. In January 2024, LMRSF commissioned Dr Jiang’s team to use their specialised technology and expertise to characterise tumours through space and time at both the single cell RNA and DNA level, using tissue from a small group of UK and US LMS patients.  It is expected that the insights into the tumours analysed will be realised in September 2024.

    Dr Jiang’s work has been supported with an initial grant of $0.2m from LMRSF.