Research Focus

Our laboratory studies cancers that originate in the eye and the tissues surrounding the eye (ocular oncology), with a particular emphasis on pediatric retinoblastoma (Rb) and adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). While cancers of the eye are generally rare, they are highly aggressive in nature and are uniformly lethal if left untreated. In pediatric retinoblastoma, advanced therapies have led to remarkable curative rates in developed countries where intraarterial and intra-eye chemotherapy treatments are available. Yet in most parts of the world, the only curative approach to retinoblastoma tumors remains removal of the affected eye(s) in these babies. Unfortunately, Rb remains one of the leading causes of childhood cancer deaths worldwide due limited access to advanced pediatric ophthalmic screen and care, and reluctance by parents to subject their child to eye removal procedures. 

In adenoid cystic carcinoma, a slow growing tumor of the secretory glands of the head and neck, major challenges remain in the development of therapeutics specifically targeting the tumors’ biology, as well as in adequate and sensitive surveillance tools for recurrent and metastatic disease. Due to its slow growth rate, most patients with an ACC diagnosis will present with advanced metastatic disease years – sometimes decades – after definitive treatment and succumb to this cancer.   

Our laboratory is at the forefront in the deciphering Rb and ACC tumor biology, as well as in the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to eradicate these tumors while preserving the patients’ lives, eyes and sight.