Leukaemia and Cancer Genetics

Leukaemia is the most common form of cancer in children. Remarkable therapeutic advances have been made over the past sixty years and 5-year survival now exceeds 90% for certain subgroups. However, despite this progress, leukaemia is the second most frequent cause of death from cancer in children. This is predominantly due to disease relapse, with many children also suffering from treatment-related toxicity and a poor initial response to conventional chemotherapy. 

Our overarching goals focus on:

1. Understanding the genetic features and mechanisms underlying the different types of childhood leukaemia. 
2. Developing novel therapeutic strategies and identifying new drugs that can be readily translated into clinical practice. 

To realise these goals, our team is currently: 

• Characterising the genetic and molecular mechanisms that underpin specific leukaemia subtypes
• Performing chemical profiling using established disease models to identify efficacious new drugs and drug combinations
• Investigating the relationship between leukaemia cells and their environment to identify novel therapeutic targets and new treatment strategies
• Identifying and characterising leukaemia cells which are resistant to current therapies to develop strategies to prevent relapse
• Developing new preclinical disease models which can be used as tools to further study childhood leukaemia
• Identifying novel biomarkers to enable therapy to be further risk-adapted for each patient

Together, with existing collaborations with the Children’s Oncology Group and International BFM Study Group, the team aims to facilitate rapid translation of their research into clinical trials, to ultimately improve the outcome, care and overall well-being of children suffering from leukaemia.