Elizabeth Lawlor, MD, PhD

Elizabeth  Lawlor,  MD,  PhD

Children's Title: Associate Director, Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research

Academic Title: Professor, Pediatrics

Research Center: Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research

"Every child with cancer deserves the chance to grow up to realize their dreams and every family deserves access to the best possible, state-of-the-art care. Through research now, and by educating the doctors and researchers of tomorrow, my passion is to help bring hope and cures to kids with cancer everywhere."

  • Biography

    I am a physician scientist, researcher, educator, and advocate for children. My research is focused on understanding the fundamental biology of Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive bone and soft tissue tumor that impacts all ages with peak incidence in adolescents and young adults. 

    I completed my MD at McMaster University and clinical training in pediatric hematology-oncology and PhD in pathology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Following post-doctoral training at University of California, San Francisco, I began my career as an independent investigator at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California. From 2010 to 2020, I was a faculty member at the University of Michigan, where my lab continued to focus its research on basic and translational studies of pediatric solid tumors. While at Michigan, I also served as director of the Cancer Biology PhD graduate and T32 training programs and as associate director of education and training at the Rogel Cancer Center. 

     

    In June 2020, I joined Seattle Children's Research Institute where I am associate director of the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research. I am also a professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington, adjunct professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, and an affiliate investigator in the Clinical Research and Human Biology Divisions of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.

     

    My lab has been continuously funded by grants from the NIH/NCI, AACR-Stand Up to Cancer, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, St. Baldrick's Foundation, the V Foundation, as well as numerous smaller funding agencies. 

    • Related Pages

    • Lawlor Lab

      The goal of the Lawlor Lab is to discover how hijacking of normal developmental biologic programs contributes to the origin and progression of childhood cancer.

  • Publications

    Other Publications

    • Mohan DR, Borges KS, Finco I, LaPensee CR, Rege J, Solon AL, Little DW, Else T, Almeida MQ, Dang D, Haggerty-Skeans J, Apfelbaum AA, Vinco M, Wakamatsu A, Mariani BMP, Amorim LC, Latronico AC, Mendonca BB, Zerbini MCN, Lawlor ER, Ohi R, Auchus RJ, Rainey WE, Marie SKN, Giordano TJ, Venneti S, Fragoso MCBV, Breault DT, Lerario AM, Hammer GD
      β-Catenin-Driven Differentiation Is a Tissue-Specific Epigenetic Vulnerability in Adrenal Cancer.
      37129912 Cancer research, 2023 Jul 5 : 83(13)2123-2141 PMCID:PMC10330305
    • Flores-Toro JA, Jagu S, Armstrong GT, Arons DF, Aune GJ, Chanock SJ, Hawkins DS, Heath A, Helman LJ, Janeway KA, Levine JE, Miller E, Penberthy L, Roberts CWM, Shalley ER, Shern JF, Smith MA, Staudt LM, Volchenboum SL, Zhang J, Zenklusen JC, Lowy DR, Sharpless NE, Guidry Auvil JM, Kerlavage AR, Widemann BC, Reaman GH, Kibbe WA, Doroshow JH, Childhood Cancer Data Initiative Working Groups, CCDI Working Groups
      The Childhood Cancer Data Initiative: Using the Power of Data to Learn From and Improve Outcomes for Every Child and Young Adult With Pediatric Cancer.
      37267580 Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2023 Jun 2 : JCO2202208
    • Wrenn ED, Apfelbaum AA, Rudzinski ER, Deng X, Jiang W, Sud S, Van Noord RA, Newman EA, Garcia NM, Hoglund VJ, Bhise SS, Kanaan SB, Waltner OG, Furlan SN, Lawlor ER
      Carcinoma-associated fibroblast-like tumor cells remodel the Ewing sarcoma tumor microenvironment.
      37090655 bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2023 Apr 13 : PMCID:PMC10120623
    • Apfelbaum AA, Lawlor ER
      Oncogenic role for an EWS-FLI1 suppressor.
      36658218 Nature cell biology, 2023 Feb. : 25(2)214-216
    • Apfelbaum AA, Wu F, Hawkins AG, Magnuson B, Jiménez JA, Taylor SD, Wrenn ED, Waltner O, Pfaltzgraff ER, Song JY, Hall C, Wellik DM, Ljungman M, Furlan SN, Ryan RJH, Sarthy JF, Lawlor ER
      EWS::FLI1 and HOXD13 Control Tumor Cell Plasticity in Ewing Sarcoma.
      35653119 Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2022 Oct 14 : 28(20)4466-4478 PMCID:PMC9588607
    • Shulman DS, Whittle SB, Surdez D, Bailey KM, de Álava E, Yustein JT, Shlien A, Hayashi M, Bishop AJR, Crompton BD, DuBois SG, Shukla N, Leavey PJ, Lessnick SL, Kovar H, Delattre O, Grünewald TGP, Antonescu CR, Roberts RD, Toretsky JA, Tirode F, Gorlick R, Janeway KA, Reed D, Lawlor ER, Grohar PJ
      An international working group consensus report for the prioritization of molecular biomarkers for Ewing sarcoma.
      36115869 NPJ precision oncology, 2022 Sep 17 : 6(1)65 PMCID:PMC9482616
    • Pearson AD, Gaspar N, Janeway K, Campbell-Hewson Q, Lawlor ER, Copland C, Karres D, Norga K, Benzaghou F, Weiner S, Weigel B, Weiss AR, Strauss SJ, Smith M, Setty BA, Seibel N, Scobie N, Pappo A, Okpara CE, Nysom K, McDonough J, Marshall LV, Ludwinski D, Ligas F, Lesa G, Knudsen S, Kauh J, Hsieh A, Heenen D, Hawkins DS, Graham A, Garmey E, DuBois SG, Fox E, Donoghue M, de Rojas T, Chung J, Casanova M, Brennan B, Bishop M, Buenger V, Reaman G, Vassal G
      Paediatric Strategy Forum for medicinal product development of multi-targeted kinase inhibitors in bone sarcomas: ACCELERATE in collaboration with the European Medicines Agency with participation of the Food and Drug Administration.
      35863108 European journal of cancer (Oxford, England : 1990), 2022 Sept. : 17371-90
    • Alghamri MS, Banerjee K, Mujeeb AA, Mauser A, Taher A, Thalla R, McClellan BL, Varela ML, Stamatovic SM, Martinez-Revollar G, Andjelkovic AV, Gregory JV, Kadiyala P, Calinescu A, Jiménez JA, Apfelbaum AA, Lawlor ER, Carney S, Comba A, Faisal SM, Barissi M, Edwards MB, Appelman H, Sun Y, Gan J, Ackermann R, Schwendeman A, Candolfi M, Olin MR, Lahann J, Lowenstein PR, Castro MG
      Systemic Delivery of an Adjuvant CXCR4-CXCL12 Signaling Inhibitor Encapsulated in Synthetic Protein Nanoparticles for Glioma Immunotherapy.
      35616289 ACS nano, 2022 Jun 28 : 16(6)8729-8750 PMCID:PMC9649873
    • Khoogar R, Li F, Chen Y, Ignatius M, Lawlor ER, Kitagawa K, Huang TH, Phelps DA, Houghton PJ
      Single-cell RNA profiling identifies diverse cellular responses to EWSR1/FLI1 downregulation in Ewing sarcoma cells.
      34997546 Cellular oncology (Dordrecht), 2022 Feb. : 45(1)19-40
    • Apfelbaum AA, Wrenn ED, Lawlor ER
      The importance of fusion protein activity in Ewing sarcoma and the cell intrinsic and extrinsic factors that regulate it: A review.
      36505823 Frontiers in oncology, 2022 : 121044707 PMCID:PMC9727305
    • Jiménez JA, Lawlor ER, Lyssiotis CA
      Amino acid metabolism in primary bone sarcomas.
      36276057 Frontiers in oncology, 2022 : 121001318 PMCID:PMC9581121
    • Jiménez JA, Apfelbaum AA, Hawkins AG, Svoboda LK, Kumar A, Ruiz RO, Garcia AX, Haarer E, Nwosu ZC, Bradin J, Purohit T, Chen D, Cierpicki T, Grembecka J, Lyssiotis CA, Lawlor ER
      EWS-FLI1 and Menin Converge to Regulate ATF4 Activity in Ewing Sarcoma.
      33741715 Molecular cancer research : MCR, 2021 July : 19(7)1182-1195 PMCID:PMC8462528
    • Hawkins AG, Pedersen EA, Treichel S, Temprine K, Sperring C, Read JA, Magnuson B, Chugh R, Lawlor ER
      Wnt/β-catenin activated Ewing sarcoma cells promote the angiogenic switch.
      32544094 JCI insight, 2020 Jun 16
    • Hawkins AG, Julian CM, Konzen S, Treichel S, Lawlor ER, Bailey KM
      Microenvironmental Factors Drive Tenascin C and Src Cooperation to Promote Invadopodia Formation in Ewing Sarcoma.
      31521948 Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.), 2019 Oct. : 21(10)1063-1072 PMCID:PMC6745492
    • Pfaltzgraff ER, Apfelbaum A, Kassa AP, Song JY, Jiang W, Suhan TK, Wellik DM, Lawlor ER
      Anatomic Origin of Osteochondrogenic Progenitors Impacts Sensitivity to EWS-FLI1-Induced Transformation.
      30845695 Cancers, 2019 Mar 6 : 11(3) PMCID:PMC6468467
    • Pishas KI, Drenberg CD, Taslim C, Theisen ER, Johnson KM, Saund RS, Pop IL, Crompton BD, Lawlor ER, Tirode F, Mora J, Delattre O, Beckerle MC, Callen DF, Sharma S, Lessnick SL
      Therapeutic Targeting of KDM1A/LSD1 in Ewing Sarcoma with SP-2509 Engages the Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Response.
      29997151 Molecular cancer therapeutics, 2018 Sept. : 17(9)1902-1916 PMCID:PMC6201274
    • Svoboda LK, Teh SSK, Sud S, Kerk S, Zebolsky A, Treichel S, Thomas D, Halbrook CJ, Lee HJ, Kremer D, Zhang L, Klossowski S, Bankhead AR, Magnuson B, Ljungman M, Cierpicki T, Grembecka J, Lyssiotis CA, Lawlor ER
      Menin regulates the serine biosynthetic pathway in Ewing sarcoma.
      29672864 The Journal of pathology, 2018 July : 245(3)324-336 PMCID:PMC6388767
    • Thomas TT, Chukkapalli S, Van Noord RA, Krook M, Hoenerhoff MJ, Dillman JR, Lawlor ER, Opipari VP, Newman EA
      Utilization of Ultrasound Guided Tissue-directed Cellular Implantation for the Establishment of Biologically Relevant Metastatic Tumor Xenografts.
      29889191 Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, 2018 May 25 : (135) PMCID:PMC6101425
    • Hawkins AG, Basrur V, da Veiga Leprevost F, Pedersen E, Sperring C, Nesvizhskii AI, Lawlor ER
      The Ewing Sarcoma Secretome and Its Response to Activation of Wnt/beta-catenin Signaling.
      29386236 Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP, 2018 May : 17(5)901-912 PMCID:PMC5930412
    • Gorthi A, Romero JC, Loranc E, Cao L, Lawrence LA, Goodale E, Iniguez AB, Bernard X, Masamsetti VP, Roston S, Lawlor ER, Toretsky JA, Stegmaier K, Lessnick SL, Chen Y, Bishop AJR
      EWS-FLI1 increases transcription to cause R-loops and block BRCA1 repair in Ewing sarcoma.
      29513652 Nature, 2018 Mar 15 : 555(7696)387-391 PMCID:PMC6318124
    • Briski LM, Thomas DG, Patel RM, Lawlor ER, Chugh R, McHugh JB, Lucas DR
      Canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling activation in soft-tissue sarcomas: A comparative study of synovial sarcoma and leiomyosarcoma.
      30505422 Rare tumors, 2018 : 102036361318813431 PMCID:PMC6256314
    • Newman EA, Chukkapalli S, Bashllari D, Thomas TT, Van Noord RA, Lawlor ER, Hoenerhoff MJ, Opipari AW, Opipari VP
      Alternative NHEJ pathway proteins as components of MYCN oncogenic activity in human neural crest stem cell differentiation: implications for neuroblastoma initiation.
      29238067 Cell death & disease, 2017 Dec 13 : 8(12)3208 PMCID:PMC5870584
    • VAN Noord RA, Thomas T, Krook M, Chukkapalli S, Hoenerhoff MJ, Dillman JR, Lawlor ER, Opipari VP, Newman EA
      Tissue-directed Implantation Using Ultrasound Visualization for Development of Biologically Relevant Metastatic Tumor Xenografts.
      28882943 In vivo (Athens, Greece), 2017 Sept. : 31(5)779-791 PMCID:PMC5656850
    • Svoboda LK, Bailey N, Van Noord RA, Krook MA, Harris A, Cramer C, Jasman B, Patel RM, Thomas D, Borkin D, Cierpicki T, Grembecka J, Lawlor ER
      Tumorigenicity of Ewing sarcoma is critically dependent on the trithorax proteins MLL1 and menin.
      27888797 Oncotarget, 2017 Jan 3 : 8(1)458-471 PMCID:PMC5352134
    • Haak AJ, Appleton KM, Lisabeth EM, Misek SA, Ji Y, Wade SM, Bell JL, Rockwell CE, Airik M, Krook MA, Larsen SD, Verhaegen M, Lawlor ER, Neubig RR
      Pharmacological Inhibition of Myocardin-related Transcription Factor Pathway Blocks Lung Metastases of RhoC-Overexpressing Melanoma.
      27837031 Molecular cancer therapeutics, 2017 Jan. : 16(1)193-204 PMCID:PMC5555736
    • Gray F, Cho HJ, Shukla S, He S, Harris A, Boytsov B, Jaremko Ł, Jaremko M, Demeler B, Lawlor ER, Grembecka J, Cierpicki T
      BMI1 regulates PRC1 architecture and activity through homo- and hetero-oligomerization.
      27827373 Nature communications, 2016 Nov 9 : 713343 PMCID:PMC5105191
    • Cash T, McIlvaine E, Krailo MD, Lessnick SL, Lawlor ER, Laack N, Sorger J, Marina N, Grier HE, Granowetter L, Womer RB, DuBois SG
      Comparison of clinical features and outcomes in patients with extraskeletal versus skeletal localized Ewing sarcoma: A report from the Children's Oncology Group.
      27297500 Pediatric blood & cancer, 2016 Oct. : 63(10)1771-9 PMCID:PMC4995129
    • Krook MA, Hawkins AG, Patel RM, Lucas DR, Van Noord R, Chugh R, Lawlor ER
      A bivalent promoter contributes to stress-induced plasticity of CXCR4 in Ewing sarcoma.
      27528222 Oncotarget, 2016 Sep 20 : 7(38)61775-61788 PMCID:PMC5308690
    • Pedersen EA, Menon R, Bailey KM, Thomas DG, Van Noord RA, Tran J, Wang H, Qu PP, Hoering A, Fearon ER, Chugh R, Lawlor ER
      Activation of Wnt/β-Catenin in Ewing Sarcoma Cells Antagonizes EWS/ETS Function and Promotes Phenotypic Transition to More Metastatic Cell States.
      27364557 Cancer research, 2016 Sep 1 : 76(17)5040-53 PMCID:PMC5010452
    • Bailey KM, Airik M, Krook MA, Pedersen EA, Lawlor ER
      Micro-Environmental Stress Induces Src-Dependent Activation of Invadopodia and Cell Migration in Ewing Sarcoma.
      27566104 Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.), 2016 Aug. : 18(8)480-8 PMCID:PMC5018098
    • von Heyking K, Roth L, Ertl M, Schmidt O, Calzada-Wack J, Neff F, Lawlor ER, Burdach S, Richter GH
      The posterior HOXD locus: Its contribution to phenotype and malignancy of Ewing sarcoma.
      27363011 Oncotarget, 2016 Jul 5 : 7(27)41767-41780 PMCID:PMC5173095
    • Evelyn CR, Lisabeth EM, Wade SM, Haak AJ, Johnson CN, Lawlor ER, Neubig RR
      Small-Molecule Inhibition of Rho/MKL/SRF Transcription in Prostate Cancer Cells: Modulation of Cell Cycle, ER Stress, and Metastasis Gene Networks.
      27600078 Microarrays (Basel, Switzerland), 2016 May 28 : 5(2) PMCID:PMC5003489
    • Kovar H, Amatruda J, Brunet E, Burdach S, Cidre-Aranaz F, de Alava E, Dirksen U, van der Ent W, Grohar P, Grünewald TG, Helman L, Houghton P, Iljin K, Korsching E, Ladanyi M, Lawlor E, Lessnick S, Ludwig J, Meltzer P, Metzler M, Mora J, Moriggl R, Nakamura T, Papamarkou T, Radic Sarikas B, Rédini F, Richter GH, Rossig C, Schadler K, Schäfer BW, Scotlandi K, Sheffield NC, Shelat A, Snaar-Jagalska E, Sorensen P, Stegmaier K, Stewart E, Sweet-Cordero A, Szuhai K, Tirado OM, Tirode F, Toretsky J, Tsafou K, Ãœren A, Zinovyev A, Delattre O
      The second European interdisciplinary Ewing sarcoma research summit--A joint effort to deconstructing the multiple layers of a complex disease.
      26802024 Oncotarget, 2016 Feb 23 : 7(8)8613-24 PMCID:PMC4890991
    • Ryland KE, Hawkins AG, Weisenberger DJ, Punj V, Borinstein SC, Laird PW, Martens JR, Lawlor ER
      Promoter Methylation Analysis Reveals That KCNA5 Ion Channel Silencing Supports Ewing Sarcoma Cell Proliferation.
      26573141 Molecular cancer research : MCR, 2016 Jan. : 14(1)26-34 PMCID:PMC4716008
    • Volchenboum SL, Andrade J, Huang L, Barkauskas DA, Krailo M, Womer RB, Ranft A, Potratz J, Dirksen U, Triche TJ, Lawlor ER
      Gene Expression Profiling of Ewing Sarcoma Tumors Reveals the Prognostic Importance of Tumor-Stromal Interactions: A Report from the Children's Oncology Group.
      26052443 The journal of pathology. Clinical research, 2015 April : 1(2)83-94 PMCID:PMC4457396
    • Selvanathan SP, Graham GT, Erkizan HV, Dirksen U, Natarajan TG, Dakic A, Yu S, Liu X, Paulsen MT, Ljungman ME, Wu CH, Lawlor ER, Ãœren A, Toretsky JA
      Oncogenic fusion protein EWS-FLI1 is a network hub that regulates alternative splicing.
      25737553 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2015 Mar 17 : 112(11)E1307-16 PMCID:PMC4371969
    • Tilan JU, Krailo M, Barkauskas DA, Galli S, Mtaweh H, Long J, Wang H, Hawkins K, Lu C, Jeha D, Izycka-Swieszewska E, Lawlor ER, Toretsky JA, Kitlinska JB
      Systemic levels of neuropeptide Y and dipeptidyl peptidase activity in patients with Ewing sarcoma--associations with tumor phenotype and survival.
      25387699 Cancer, 2015 Mar 1 : 121(5)697-707 PMCID:PMC4339539
    • Lawlor ER, Sorensen PH
      Twenty Years on: What Do We Really Know about Ewing Sarcoma and What Is the Path Forward?
      26349414 Critical reviews in oncogenesis, 2015 : 20(3-4)155-71 PMCID:PMC4671490
    • Brindle NR, Joyce JA, Rostker F, Lawlor ER, Swigart-Brown L, Evan G, Hanahan D, Shchors K
      Deficiency for the cysteine protease cathepsin L impairs Myc-induced tumorigenesis in a mouse model of pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer.
      25927437 PloS one, 2015 : 10(4)e0120348 PMCID:PMC4415914
    • Svoboda LK, Harris A, Bailey NJ, Schwentner R, Tomazou E, von Levetzow C, Magnuson B, Ljungman M, Kovar H, Lawlor ER
      Overexpression of HOX genes is prevalent in Ewing sarcoma and is associated with altered epigenetic regulation of developmental transcription programs.
      25625846 Epigenetics, 2014 Dec. : 9(12)1613-25 PMCID:PMC4622732
    • Ban J, Aryee DN, Fourtouna A, van der Ent W, Kauer M, Niedan S, Machado I, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Tirado OM, Schwentner R, Picci P, Flanagan AM, Berg V, Strauss SJ, Scotlandi K, Lawlor ER, Snaar-Jagalska E, Llombart-Bosch A, Kovar H
      Suppression of deacetylase SIRT1 mediates tumor-suppressive NOTCH response and offers a novel treatment option in metastatic Ewing sarcoma.
      25281719 Cancer research, 2014 Nov 15 : 74(22)6578-88
    • Applebaum MA, Thomas DG, Hembrough T, Burrows J, Horvai AE, Lawlor ER, DuBois SG
      Comparative evaluation of strategies for quantifying signaling pathway proteins in Ewing sarcoma.
      24590121 Applied immunohistochemistry & molecular morphology : AIMM, 2014 Sept. : 22(8)593-9 PMCID:PMC4148473
    • Krook MA, Nicholls LA, Scannell CA, Chugh R, Thomas DG, Lawlor ER
      Stress-induced CXCR4 promotes migration and invasion of ewing sarcoma.
      24651452 Molecular cancer research : MCR, 2014 June : 12(6)953-64 PMCID:PMC4058379
    • Monument MJ, Johnson KM, McIlvaine E, Abegglen L, Watkins WS, Jorde LB, Womer RB, Beeler N, Monovich L, Lawlor ER, Bridge JA, Schiffman JD, Krailo MD, Randall RL, Lessnick SL
      Clinical and biochemical function of polymorphic NR0B1 GGAA-microsatellites in Ewing sarcoma: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.
      25093581 PloS one, 2014 : 9(8)e104378 PMCID:PMC4122435
    • Karnuth B, Dedy N, Spieker T, Lawlor ER, Gattenlöhner S, Ranft A, Dirksen U, Jürgens H, Bräuninger A
      Differentially expressed miRNAs in Ewing sarcoma compared to mesenchymal stem cells: low miR-31 expression with effects on proliferation and invasion.
      24667836 PloS one, 2014 : 9(3)e93067 PMCID:PMC3965523
    • Rowe RG, Thomas DG, Schuetze SM, Hafez KS, Lawlor ER, Chugh R
      Ewing sarcoma of the kidney: case series and literature review of an often overlooked entity in the diagnosis of primary renal tumors.
      23374800 Urology, 2013 Feb. : 81(2)347-53
    • Borinstein SC, Beeler N, Block JJ, Gorlick R, Grohar P, Jedlicka P, Krailo M, Morris C, Phillips S, Siegal GP, Lawlor ER, Lessnick SL, COG Ewing Sarcoma Biology Committee.
      A Decade in Banking Ewing Sarcoma: A Report from the Children's Oncology Group.
      23519678 Frontiers in oncology, 2013 : 357 PMCID:PMC3602933
    • Scannell CA, Pedersen EA, Mosher JT, Krook MA, Nicholls LA, Wilky BA, Loeb DM, Lawlor ER
      LGR5 is Expressed by Ewing Sarcoma and Potentiates Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling.
      23596566 Frontiers in oncology, 2013 : 381 PMCID:PMC3625903
    • May WA, Grigoryan RS, Keshelava N, Cabral DJ, Christensen LL, Jenabi J, Ji L, Triche TJ, Lawlor ER, Reynolds CP
      Characterization and drug resistance patterns of Ewing's sarcoma family tumor cell lines.
      24312454 PloS one, 2013 : 8(12)e80060 PMCID:PMC3846563
    • Sompallae R, Hofmann O, Maher CA, Gedye C, Behren A, Vitezic M, Daub CO, Devalle S, Caballero OL, Carninci P, Hayashizaki Y, Lawlor ER, Cebon J, Hide W
      A comprehensive promoter landscape identifies a novel promoter for CD133 in restricted tissues, cancers, and stem cells.
      24194746 Frontiers in genetics, 2013 : 4209 PMCID:PMC3810939
    • Shukla N, Schiffman J, Reed D, Davis IJ, Womer RB, Lessnick SL, Lawlor ER, COG Ewing Sarcoma Biology Committee.
      Biomarkers in Ewing Sarcoma: The Promise and Challenge of Personalized Medicine. A Report from the Children's Oncology Group.
      23761859 Frontiers in oncology, 2013 : 3141 PMCID:PMC3674398
    • Lawlor ER, Thiele CJ
      Epigenetic changes in pediatric solid tumors: promising new targets.
      22589485 Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2012 May 15 : 18(10)2768-79 PMCID:PMC3691809
    • Kovar H, Alonso J, Aman P, Aryee DN, Ban J, Burchill SA, Burdach S, De Alava E, Delattre O, Dirksen U, Fourtouna A, Fulda S, Helman LJ, Herrero-Martin D, Hogendoorn PC, Kontny U, Lawlor ER, Lessnick SL, Llombart-Bosch A, Metzler M, Moriggl R, Niedan S, Potratz J, Redini F, Richter GH, Riedmann LT, Rossig C, Schäfer BW, Schwentner R, Scotlandi K, Sorensen PH, Staege MS, Tirode F, Toretsky J, Ventura S, Eggert A, Ladenstein R
      The first European interdisciplinary ewing sarcoma research summit.
      22662320 Frontiers in oncology, 2012 : 254 PMCID:PMC3361960
    • Patel N, Black J, Chen X, Marcondes AM, Grady WM, Lawlor ER, Borinstein SC
      DNA methylation and gene expression profiling of ewing sarcoma primary tumors reveal genes that are potential targets of epigenetic inactivation.
      23024594 Sarcoma, 2012 : 2012498472 PMCID:PMC3447379
    • von Levetzow C, Jiang X, Gwye Y, von Levetzow G, Hung L, Cooper A, Hsu JH, Lawlor ER
      Modeling initiation of Ewing sarcoma in human neural crest cells.
      21559395 PloS one, 2011 Apr 29 : 6(4)e19305 PMCID:PMC3084816
    • Cooper A, van Doorninck J, Ji L, Russell D, Ladanyi M, Shimada H, Krailo M, Womer RB, Hsu JH, Thomas D, Triche TJ, Sposto R, Lawlor ER
      Ewing tumors that do not overexpress BMI-1 are a distinct molecular subclass with variant biology: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.
      21047978 Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2011 Jan 1 : 17(1)56-66 PMCID:PMC3711406
    • Bennani-Baiti IM, Cooper A, Lawlor ER, Kauer M, Ban J, Aryee DN, Kovar H
      Intercohort gene expression co-analysis reveals chemokine receptors as prognostic indicators in Ewing's sarcoma.
      20525755 Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2010 Jul 15 : 16(14)3769-78 PMCID:PMC2905506
    • van Doorninck JA, Ji L, Schaub B, Shimada H, Wing MR, Krailo MD, Lessnick SL, Marina N, Triche TJ, Sposto R, Womer RB, Lawlor ER
      Current treatment protocols have eliminated the prognostic advantage of type 1 fusions in Ewing sarcoma: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.
      20308669 Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2010 Apr 20 : 28(12)1989-94 PMCID:PMC2860404
    • Jiang X, Gwye Y, Russell D, Cao C, Douglas D, Hung L, Kovar H, Triche TJ, Lawlor ER
      CD133 expression in chemo-resistant Ewing sarcoma cells.
      20346143 BMC cancer, 2010 Mar 26 : 10116 PMCID:PMC2851692
    • Hu K, Lee C, Qiu D, Fotovati A, Davies A, Abu-Ali S, Wai D, Lawlor ER, Triche TJ, Pallen CJ, Dunn SE
      Small interfering RNA library screen of human kinases and phosphatases identifies polo-like kinase 1 as a promising new target for the treatment of pediatric rhabdomyosarcomas.
      19887553 Molecular cancer therapeutics, 2009 Nov. : 8(11)3024-35 PMCID:PMC2783569
    • Joo J, Christensen L, Warner K, States L, Kang HG, Vo K, Lawlor ER, May WA
      GLI1 is a central mediator of EWS/FLI1 signaling in Ewing tumors.
      19859563 PloS one, 2009 Oct 27 : 4(10)e7608 PMCID:PMC2763206
    • Jiang X, Gwye Y, McKeown SJ, Bronner-Fraser M, Lutzko C, Lawlor ER
      Isolation and characterization of neural crest stem cells derived from in vitro-differentiated human embryonic stem cells.
      19099373 Stem cells and development, 2009 Sept. : 18(7)1059-70 PMCID:PMC4606969
    • Coles EG, Lawlor ER, Bronner-Fraser M
      EWS-FLI1 causes neuroepithelial defects and abrogates emigration of neural crest stem cells.
      18556509 Stem cells (Dayton, Ohio), 2008 Sept. : 26(9)2237-44
    • Douglas D, Hsu JH, Hung L, Cooper A, Abdueva D, van Doorninck J, Peng G, Shimada H, Triche TJ, Lawlor ER
      BMI-1 promotes ewing sarcoma tumorigenicity independent of CDKN2A repression.
      18701473 Cancer research, 2008 Aug 15 : 68(16)6507-15 PMCID:PMC2570201
    • Meyer JS, Nadel HR, Marina N, Womer RB, Brown KL, Eary JF, Gorlick R, Grier HE, Randall RL, Lawlor ER, Lessnick SL, Schomberg PJ, Kailo MD
      Imaging guidelines for children with Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcoma: a report from the Children's Oncology Group Bone Tumor Committee.
      18454470 Pediatric blood & cancer, 2008 Aug. : 51(2)163-70
    • Soucek L, Lawlor ER, Soto D, Shchors K, Swigart LB, Evan GI
      Mast cells are required for angiogenesis and macroscopic expansion of Myc-induced pancreatic islet tumors.
      17906636 Nature medicine, 2007 Oct. : 13(10)1211-8
    • Shchors K, Shchors E, Rostker F, Lawlor ER, Brown-Swigart L, Evan GI
      The Myc-dependent angiogenic switch in tumors is mediated by interleukin 1beta.
      16980582 Genes & development, 2006 Sep 15 : 20(18)2527-38 PMCID:PMC1578676
    • Lawlor ER, Soucek L, Brown-Swigart L, Shchors K, Bialucha CU, Evan GI
      Reversible kinetic analysis of Myc targets in vivo provides novel insights into Myc-mediated tumorigenesis.
      16651409 Cancer research, 2006 May 1 : 66(9)4591-601
    • Christophorou MA, Martin-Zanca D, Soucek L, Lawlor ER, Brown-Swigart L, Verschuren EW, Evan GI
      Temporal dissection of p53 function in vitro and in vivo.
      15924142 Nature genetics, 2005 July : 37(7)718-26
    • Barr FG, Qualman SJ, Macris MH, Melnyk N, Lawlor ER, Strzelecki DM, Triche TJ, Bridge JA, Sorensen PH
      Genetic heterogeneity in the alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma subset without typical gene fusions.
      12183429 Cancer research, 2002 Aug 15 : 62(16)4704-10
    • Lawlor ER, Scheel C, Irving J, Sorensen PH
      Anchorage-independent multi-cellular spheroids as an in vitro model of growth signaling in Ewing tumors.
      11803474 Oncogene, 2002 Jan 10 : 21(2)307-18

Overview

Research Description

We use state-of-the-art model systems and technologies to elucidate drivers of sarcoma progression. We are specifically interested in identifying differences between cancer and normal development. The overarching hypothesis is that this research will identify tumor-specific vulnerabilities that can be targeted by innovative therapies that will spare normal tissues and be less toxic to growing children.

Key areas of focus: sarcoma biology, epigenetics, cell plasticity and tumor heterogeneity, metastasis, tumor: microenvironment crosstalk

 

ABOUT MY WORK 

https://www.seattlechildrens.org/research/centers-programs/childhood-cancer/our-labs/lawlor-lab/

 
Research Focus Area

Novel Therapeutics