Aptadel Therapeutics, a spin-off of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), receives half a million dollars from the American Little Warrior Foundation to partially finance the preclinical research program against Ewing’s sarcoma. The main objective of the program is to develop a treatment based on RNA technology to combat this cancer, which continues to be one of the leading causes of death among children globally. 

As the Little Warrior Foundation points out, it is vital to invest in research into paediatric cancers such as Ewing’s sarcoma, given that global investment greatly favours adult cancers: for example, in the United States, only 4% of annual research funding – about 195 million dollars – is allocated to paediatric cancer research. This means that prostate cancer alone, which predominantly affects adults, already receives more funding than all paediatric cancers combined. And there are still many children affected by cancer, who cannot be neglected, and even less so with cancers as aggressive as Ewing’s sarcoma. 

Ewing’s sarcoma is an aggressive form of bone cancer, with a high tendency to metastasize, typically affecting children and young people. It can develop in both bones and soft tissue, but it has a preference for forming in the long bones of the limbs, pelvis, or spine. In most cases it appears during puberty, when the bones are in continuous and rapid growth, and it is easier for errors to occur during cell division, accelerated per se at this stage, which alter certain genes. In fact, in this type of sarcoma, the gene that is usually affected is EWS, which due to several errors whose origin is unknown, ends up fused with other genes and creates a fusion gene that does not work as it should. In 90% of cases, the partner of EWS is the FLI1 gene, but in the remaining 10% it changes partners (ERG, ETV1, EA1F, …). 

The lack of research at Ewing is evidenced by the relatively few advances that have been made since this cancer was named. Although it was characterized as a malignant tumor in 1920, its cause is still unknown. No genetic, environmental, or any other cause has been identified, and it remains today as a cancer that appears to be linked to chance. In addition, the treatment applied has not changed in almost 40 years and includes some of the most toxic drugs on the market. 

Precisely for this reason, foundations such as Little Warrior and research programs related to Ewing’s Sarcoma, such as the one that led to the creation of Aptadel Therapeutics, are vital. It is necessary to find alternative treatments that are more effective and less toxic than the current ones to reduce the adverse effects derived from the therapy suffered by affected children. Aptadel’s bet is based on RNA aptamers, small fragments of nucleic acids that are capable of recognizing and selectively binding to very specific targets. The way they act are reminiscent of the antibodies of our immune system (which is why they are nicknamed chemical antibodies), but they are much more flexible and easier to modify, so that they can be designed to bind to the molecule of interest (therapeutic agents, nanoparticles, …). This gives them great potential for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. 

The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a biomedical research center created in 2004. It is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. 

IDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centers accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the “HR Excellence in Research” program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Center of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).