Our lab has been interested in understanding how long noncoding RNAs control tumor initiation and progression, in addition to use them as potential biomarkers in diagnosis and therapy. We have been using neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer, as a model system to understand the functional role of long noncoding RNAs in cancer development and progression. By using new RNA sequencing technology on neuroblastoma tumors from a large group of Swedish children including both high-risk and low-risk neuroblastomas (108), we have identified several long noncoding RNAs that could have potential role in diagnosis and therapy. We are currently exploring the functional role of these differentially expressed long noncoding RNA in nuroblastoma progression and development.

PI Prof. Chandrasekhar Kanduri