XIT Foundation

06/23/2026

XIT is proud to join Whip Pediatric Cancer as an Ambassador Partner 💛

06/21/2026

06/07/2026

The goal should never be another 3 months.
The goal should always be to cure.

CRISPR is showing us the way.
Every child deserves this chance. 🧬💜

After leukemia treatments failed, Alyssa Tapley, at age 13, was told she would die. Then, doctors tried an experimental gene-edited therapy. She became the f...

06/07/2026

XIT Review 🧬
Open Trial: METTSEO for Newly Diagnosed & Widely Metastatic Ewing Sarcoma

There is a new frontline strategy being tested for Ewing sarcoma patients with newly diagnosed & widely metastatic disease.

METTSEO takes inspiration from evolutionary biology and population dynamics. Instead of giving the tumor time to adapt to a predictable treatment pattern, the trial attempts to push cancer cells toward extinction through rapid, sequential changes in therapy.

The METTSEO trial — Metastatic Ewing’s Trial Testing Schedule Enhancement to Improve Outcomes — NCT07194044 is a Phase 1 study that opened in February 2026 and is sponsored by Moffitt Cancer Center.

The structure of this trial is a radical departure from standard oncology protocols.

Standard Ewing sarcoma treatment typically involves repeating the same alternating chemotherapy regimens over many months. The challenge with widely metastatic disease is that cancer cells may eventually learn how to survive those specific drugs through clonal evolution.

Here is how the protocol may be sequenced to help prevent resistance:

1. Initial First Strike: Weeks 1–8

Patients receive intensive induction therapy with vincristine, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide, also known as VDC.

This phase is designed to rapidly reduce the bulk of the cancer cell population.

2. Sequential Second Strikes: Weeks 9–38

Instead of simply repeating the first strike, the trial immediately shifts into 30 weeks of rapidly changing drug combinations.

This includes:

Irinotecan / Ifosfamide / Vincristine / Actinomycin D, also known as IrIVA
Cabozantinib with primary-site radiation
Topotecan / Cyclophosphamide
High-dose ifosfamide
Irinotecan / Temozolomide

The goal is to eliminate residual cancer cell populations by changing the therapeutic pressure before the cells have time to mutate, adapt, and become resistant.

3. Maintenance Chemotherapy: Weeks 39–104

This is followed by a prolonged maintenance phase using alternating 28-day blocks of chemotherapy:

Oral cyclophosphamide / etoposide
Alternating with vincristine / liposomal doxorubicin

The goal of this phase is to target any remaining dormant or resistant cancer cells and reduce the risk of relapse.

XIT Review Takeaway

METTSEO is important because it challenges the traditional idea of repeating the same chemotherapy pattern over and over. Instead, it uses a rapid, sequential treatment strategy designed to stay ahead of tumor resistance.

For families facing newly diagnosed, widely metastatic Ewing sarcoma, this is a trial worth knowing about and asking their oncology team about. 💜

06/06/2026

📰 CRISPR SOURCE:
CHOP + Penn Medicine Research

🔍Google Search:
"CRISPR platform AML CHOP"

Researchers at CHOP and Penn Medicine have developed a CRISPR platform that can study living AML cells directly from patients.

The first studies were performed using adult AML samples, but the team has already announced plans to expand the work into pediatric AML.

💜 Why XIT is paying attention:

If successful, this type of technology could help researchers identify what a specific patient's leukemia depends on to survive.

Article Link: https://www.chop.edu/news/childrens-hospital-philadelphia-and-penn-medicine-launch-first-crispr-based-platform-pinpoint

06/03/2026

A breakthrough therapy can create exciting headlines, promising press releases, and a great deal of hope.

But the headline is only the beginning.

One of the most important questions to ask is:
❓ What was the Progression-Free Survival, or PFS?

PFS tells us how long a therapy helped keep cancer from growing, spreading, or returning. 📊

That number matters because two treatments can sound equally promising in a headline, but the actual benefit may be very different:

a few weeks
a few months
or years

PFS helps put a therapy into context. It allows patients, caregivers, and medical teams to better understand whether a treatment is offering meaningful disease control.

Data helps guide safer, more informed decisions.
When considering any cancer therapy, ask about the PFS.

At XIT we believe the right questions help families understand what the data really means🌟

🔍 Be your own investigator. Ask about PFS.

05/27/2026

Cost of CRISPR 🧬