UCL Cancer Institute Seminar Series

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a complex and heterogeneous group of malignancies in which genetic and epigenetic alterations lead to the transformation of myeloid cell precursors. While survival rates for children with AML who are treated on contemporary clinical trials are now greater than 60% overall, the cure rates for certain subtypes of AML are unacceptably low and cannot be improved simply by further intensification of standard chemotherapy. Genomic and biologic insights into the mechanisms of leukemogenesis have provided new prognostic indicators as well as opportunities to develop targeted and less toxic therapies for the treatment of AML. We recently completed an in depth genomic analysis of AMKL in non-Down syndrome patients, a subset that comprises ~10% of pediatric AML and ~1% of adult AML. Through our genomic studies, we demonstrated that pediatric non-DS-AMKL was distinct from adult AMKL and in and of itself a heterogeneous malignancy that can be divided into seven genomic subgroups with varying outcomes. The identification of key genomic events in these patients is important for risk stratification as the lesions have therapeuticimplications. An analysis of pediatric patients enrolled on AML08, the treatment protocol at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for newly diagnosed pediatric AML patients, reveals that approximately 30% of patients do not carry a known driver mutation as determined by clinical testing. Karyotypes of these patients fall into two categories: cytogenetically normal and complex karyotypes. In collaboration with three international pediatric oncology cooperative groups we have compiled a large cohort of pediatric AML patients that lack a known driver mutation for comprehensive genomic analysis. Our future efforts will focus on characterization of this cohort including the non-coding regions of the genome. 

Dr Tanja Gruber academic profile

Hosted by: Professor Tariq Enver

Location

UCL Cancer Institute
Courtyard Café
72 Huntley Street
London, WC1E 6DD

Contact: Veronica Dominguez v.dominguez@ucl.ac.ukView Map

This seminar has been sponsored in part by Merck, the Biomedical Research Centre and Cancer Research UK