Transgenic mouse models of congenital malignancies via expression of the ETV6-NTRK3 oncoprotein

During his Master’s research Christopher Lannon studied sensitivity to chemotherapy in adult and pediatric leukemias. Now Lannon is focusing on childhood cancers, which are biologically distinct from adult cancers and therefore present unique and interesting research challenges. He’s investigating a childhood tumour known as congenital fibrosarcoma (CFS). Several pediatric tumours, including CFS, are characterized by the fusion of two normal genes to form an abnormal fusion gene. Lannon aims to understand why this rearrangement of genetic material leads to malignant childhood tumours, with the goal of developing a mechanism to block the fusion.