Dear ASPS Community,
Please support our Fight to Find a Cure for Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma (ASPS).
On August 2-3, 2025, Team ASPS participated in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC) for the 22nd time, riding 162 miles, from Wellesley to Provincetown. The PMC is a bike-a-thon that crosses Massachusetts to raise funds for cancer research and clinical trials at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
Twenty-two years ago, after my middle daughter was diagnosed with ASPS we founded “Cure Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma International, (iCureASPS)â€, an organization dedicated to finding a cure.
In 2005, following our second ride with Team ASPS, we were able to initiate the first-ever human ASPS clinical trial, the Cancer Vaccine clinical trial (GVAX), developed by Dr. Glenn Dranoff at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This sparked additional clinical trials including ARQ197, Cediranib, Anlotinib, Axitinib, and Pembrolizumab. December 2022 marked a major accomplishment for ASPS patients when TECENTRIQ (atezolizumab) was approved by the FDA as the first ASPS drug.
Our current research efforts at the Dana-Farber and the University of Massachusetts Memorial Children’s Medical Center are conducted by Dr. Matthew Hemming, Dr. Ewa Sicinska, and Dr. Andrew Wagner. This year, we continue to conduct a genetic CRISPR screen using ASPS cell lines to learn about the biology of ASPS and identify specific ASPS targets for therapy. Additionally, iCureASPS initiated a collaboration with the Rare Cancer Research Foundation aiming to develop ASPS cancer cell lines needed for preclinical research.
Any donations would be greatly appreciated!
How to donate:
Online donations through my PMC rider page: https://profile.pmc.org/YL0002
Once you are on my page, click on the right side: “DONATE TO MY RIDE,†or on the left side: “DONATE BY VENMO.”
Your donation is fully tax-deductible. The PMC tax ID is: 04-2746912
Thank you for your support!
Yosef Landesman
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Yosef Landesman, Ph.D.
President & Cancer Research Director