Lucio Castilla awarded grant to evaluate new therapeutic approach for blood cancer

Lucio Castilla, PhD, has received funding from the RUNX1 Research Program to investigate the role of TNF-mediated inflammation in predisposition to familial platelet disorder (FPD), a hereditary hematologic malignancy syndrome associated with mutations in the RUNX1 gene. The study will test whether a TNF inhibitor called etanercept, which is currently used to treat certain inflammatory diseases, can delay or prevent blood cancer in a mouse model of RUNX1-FPD.