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Research

The role of CCN family genes in haematological malignancies

Haematological malignancies, although a broad range of specific disease types, continue to show considerable overlap in classification, and patients are...

Research

Novel CT domain-encoding splice forms of CTGF/CCN2 are expressed in B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) has been shown previously to be aberrantly expressed in a high proportion of paediatric precursor B cell acute...

Research

Lessons from 50 years of curing childhood leukaemia

One of the great success stories of modern medicine is undoubtedly the remarkable improvement in outcome for childhood cancer, achieved through the work of...

Research

The bone marrow microenvironment of pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia at single-cell resolution

The bone marrow microenvironment (BMM) plays a key role in leukemia progression, but its molecular complexity in pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), the most common cancer in children, remains poorly understood. To gain further insight, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize the kinetics of the murine BMM during B-ALL progression.

Research

Aging of preleukemic thymocytes drives CpG island hypermethylation in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Cancer cells display DNA hypermethylation at specific CpG islands in comparison to their normal healthy counterparts, but the mechanism that drives this so-called CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) remains poorly understood. Here, we show that CpG island methylation in human T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) mainly occurs at promoters of Polycomb Repressor Complex 2 (PRC2) target genes that are not expressed in normal or malignant T-cells and which display a reciprocal association with H3K27me3 binding.

Research

Gain of chromosome 21 in hematological malignancies: lessons from studying leukemia in children with Down syndrome

Structural and numerical alterations of chromosome 21 are extremely common in hematological malignancies. While the functional impact of chimeric transcripts from fused chromosome 21 genes such as TEL-AML1, AML1-ETO, or FUS-ERG have been extensively studied, the role of gain of chromosome 21 remains largely unknown.

Research

Constitutive Activation of RAS/MAPK Pathway Cooperates with Trisomy 21 and Is Therapeutically Exploitable in Down Syndrome B-cell Leukemia

Children with Down syndrome (constitutive trisomy 21) that develop acute lymphoblastic leukemia (DS-ALL) have a 3-fold increased likelihood of treatment-related mortality coupled with a higher cumulative incidence of relapse, compared with other children with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL).

Research

Targeting cytokine- and therapy-induced PIM1 activation in preclinical models of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoma

IL7 and glucocorticoids coordinately drive aberrant activation of PIM1 and suggests that T-ALL and T-LBL patients could benefit from PIM inhibition

Research

Challenges posed by COVID-19 to children with cancer

Development of standardised guidance by national and regional authorities for reducing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission to children with cancer

Research

Immunogenicity of the inactivated influenza vaccine in children who have undergone allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant

This study provides evidence to support annual inactivated influenza vaccine administration to children following allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant