One of the major characteristic features of most cancers is the high number of mutations in key genes that are essential for tumor growth. Although this is still the current dogma in most adult cancers, sequencing studies over the past 10 years have revealed that pediatric tumors do not require a high number of mutations to progress. So, how do these cells become cancer with fewer mutations? In this talk, I will describe key contributing mechanisms that pediatric cancer cells utilize for disease progression. 

Justina McEvoy, Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, BIO5 Institute and Pediatrics