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Bringing hope to children, families and patients facing rare diagnoses, the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research (PICR) is advancing discoveries that deepen our understanding of pediatric and rare cancers while driving the development of future diagnostics, therapies and technologies.
Often characterized by their low incidence rates and high complexity, pediatric and rare cancers require innovative approaches for expanding our understanding of the genetics, biology, and biochemistry driving cancers in these patients. Through the acquisition of new fundamental knowledge, PICR scientists can then develop novel diagnostic capabilities and treatment options. Purdue Institute for Cancer Research scientists leverage interdisciplinary expertise and advanced technologies to improve outcomes for patients with these difficult-to-treat cancers.
Pediatric and rare cancers often pose complex scientific questions that no single discipline can answer alone. At the PICR, biologists, chemists, engineers, computational scientists, pharmacists, veterinary researchers and others bring distinct expertise to the same challenge. By approaching cancer from multiple perspectives, these collaborations can reveal connections that might otherwise be missed and open new paths toward better prevention, earlier detection and more effective treatment.
We believe that no patient is too young, and no diagnosis is too rare to merit attention for research. Several of our researchers pursue knowledge on understudied cancers. By advancing foundational discoveries, we aim to expand options and hope for those too often overlooked.
You can help drive this work forward by supporting research that brings new possibilities to every patient, no matter the diagnosis.
The Tyler Trent Pediatric Cancer Research Center was formed in 2023 within the PICR to expand Purdue’s research into childhood cancers. One of the center’s research focus areas is dedicated to understanding osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer that primarily affects children. This research honors the memory of Tyler Trent, a Purdue student and “superfan.”
Illustrating how the institute approaches some of cancer’s most difficult challenges, osteosarcoma brings together several of PICR’s strengths — from fundamental cancer biology and drug development to comparative oncology. The research demonstrates how diverse disciplines converge around a difficult cancer with an urgent need for new options.
Osteosarcoma is the most common bone cancer in children and young adults, though it remains rare overall. Its standard of care — surgery and chemotherapy — has changed little in decades, underscoring the need for better treatments.
PICR scientists are pursuing targeted therapies and advanced immunotherapies, including next-generation CAR T-cell treatments, designed to attack the disease more precisely while reducing harmful side effects. This work spans multiple fields, including comparative veterinary medicine, where researchers study osteosarcoma in dogs for insights that could benefit both pets and people.
Dr. Michael Childress, professor of comparative oncology, PICR member and researcher in the Tyler Trent Pediatric Cancer Research Center, is leading research on osteosarcoma. He is developing a prospective drug therapy that targets a specific protein driving the progression of osteosarcoma and other cancers in both dogs and humans. By focusing on fundamental cancer mechanisms, his work has the potential to improve outcomes for pediatric patients and advance therapies across multiple cancer types.
The Purdue Institute for Cancer Research and the Tyler Trent Pediatric Cancer Research Center engage with patients, families, advocacy groups, the Boilermaker community and beyond to raise awareness of and support for critical cancer research.
Purdue cancer researchers are advancing new strategies for preventing, detecting and treating cancer by investigating the underlying biology of disease, uncovering new therapeutic targets and engineering technologies that improve how treatments reach tumors. These efforts support progress across pediatric cancers, rare cancers and other difficult-to-treat diseases.
Partner with Purdue to advance research in pediatric and rare cancers.
Phone: 765-494-9129
Fax: 765-494-9193
Email: cancerresearch@purdue.edu
201 S. University St.
Hansen Life Sciences Bldg, Rm. 141
West Lafayette, IN 47907