DeCure's autonomous Cancer AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for monophasic synovial sarcoma — screening already-approved drugs against its 14-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleMonophasic synovial sarcoma maps to a 14-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for monophasic synovial sarcoma is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
NRAS proto-oncogene, GTPase (NRAS) — NRAS is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet gdpdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 6ZIO · 1.55 Å · ligand GUANOSINE-5'-DIPHOSPHATE (GDP). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
A nationwide Dutch study of 613 synovial sarcoma patients, 461 with localised disease at diagnosis, found that 5-year overall survival fell steadily with older age: 89.3% in children (n=54), 73.0% in adolescents and young adults (n=148), 54.7% in adults (n=204), and 43.0% in the elderly (n=55). In multivariable analysis, age at diagnosis, tumour location, and tumour size were significant independent factors for survival, while the type of treatment given had no significant effect in univariable analysis. Tumour location and size were distributed equally across age groups, meaning the survival decline with age was not explained by older patients presenting with worse tumours.
A separate review of head and neck synovial sarcoma, based on a single institution’s 36-year experience, notes that this site accounts for fewer than 10% of all head and neck sarcomas and occurs most often in males in their third decade. The accepted approach is complete surgical resection followed by postoperative radiation for patients at high risk of locoregional recurrence. The review mentions emerging data on chemotherapy effectiveness for head and neck synovial sarcoma but does not report any specific response rates or survival figures from that experience.
A retrospective PCR-based study of 41 synovial sarcoma specimens tested for DNA of Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus 8, and human papillomavirus. No virus-specific DNA from any of these three viruses was detected. The authors conclude that an involvement of these viruses in synovial sarcoma aetiology was not found, but they note that other virus types and sarcoma entities remain to be tested.
What is still missing is a prospective trial that stratifies patients by age and tests whether adjusting treatment intensity by age group improves survival, given that the Dutch data show treatment modality had no significant effect. The head and neck data come from a single institution over 36 years, so generalisability is limited. The viral study is small and negative for three viruses, leaving open the possibility that other viruses or non-viral mechanisms drive the disease. No drug repurposing candidate emerges from these abstracts.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
British Journal of Cancer · 2015 · 107 citations · open access
Age as an independent prognostic factor for survival of localised synovial sarcoma patients
AbstractBACKGROUND: We performed a retrospective nationwide study to explore age as a prognostic factor in synovial sarcoma patients. METHODS: Data on 613 synovial sarcoma patients were obtained from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. The prognostic relevance of age groups (children, adolescent and young adults (AYAs), adults, and elderly) was estimated by Kaplan-Meier survival curves and multivariable Cox-proportional hazards modelling. RESULTS: A total of 461 patients had localised disease at diagnosis. The 5-year overall survival (OS) was 89.3±4.6%, 73.0±3.8%, 54.7±3.6%, and 43.0±7.0% in children (n=54), AYAs (n=148), adults (n=204), and elderly (n=55), respectively. Treatment modalities had no significant effect on survival in the univariable analysis. Multivariable analysis identified age at diagnosis, tumour localisation, and tumour size as significant factors affecting OS. Both tumour localisation and size were equally distributed over the age groups. CONCLUSIONS: We show that outcome of synovial sarcoma patients significantly decreases with age regardless of primary tumour site, size, and treatment.
Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy · 2008 · 41 citations
Treatment outcomes for patients with synovial sarcoma of the head and neck
AbstractEvaluation of: Harb WJ, Luna MA, Patel SR, Ballo MT, Roberts DB, Sturgis EM. Survival in patients with synovial sarcoma of the head and neck: association with tumor location, size, and extension. Head Neck 29, 731-740 (2007). Synovial sarcoma of the head and neck occurs most commonly in males in their third decade of life. Synovial sarcoma of the head is rare, accounting for less than 10% of all head and neck sarcomas. Due to its rarity, there are very few publications on the treatment approach for these tumors. However, it is uniformly accepted that all head and neck synovial sarcomas should undergo complete surgical resection followed by postoperative radiation therapy in those at high risk for locoregional recurrence. In terms of chemotherapy, there are also emerging data on its effectiveness in the treatment of synovial sarcoma of the head and neck. The paper under evaluation reports a single institution's 36-year experience on the treatment of synovial sarcoma of the head and neck. This paper highlights the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in the treatment of this disease.
Clinical Sarcoma Research · 2015 · 3 citations · open access
Do human tumor-associated viruses play a role in the development of synovial sarcoma?
AbstractBACKGROUND: To date, the pathomechanism of soft tissue sarcomas such as synovial sarcoma remains unclear whereas even a viral etiology was suspected. Aim of this study was to analyze whether EBV, HHV-8 or HPV play a role in the development of synovial sarcomas. FINDINGS: In total 41 synovial sarcomas were included in this retrospective study. For detection of EBV 1/2 and HHV-8, resection specimens were analyzed with regard to virus-specific sequences using a SingleStep PCR. HPV analysis was carried out by an HPV-specific multiplex-PCR and subsequent array-hybridization for HPV-typing. No virus-specific DNA of EBV, HHV-8 or HPV was detected. CONCLUSION: An involvement of these viruses in the etiology of synovial sarcoma was not detected but further studies are needed with different virus types and sarcoma entities.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
