The inactivity or “silence” of certain genes plays a fundamental role in the prognosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as well as in response to treatment, according to the results of research involving a team made up of specialists from the University Hospital of Navarra and the Centre for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) at the same University of Navarra, as well as the Reina Sofía Hospital in Córdoba, Andalusia.

Scientists have identified mutations in a gene that predict a high likelihood of relapse in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

The first analysis of the genetic determinants of resistance to the anti-cancer drug methotrexate in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) could offer a pathway to predicting such resistance and treatments to overcome it, according to a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital study.

Researchers at St. Jude ChildrenЎ¦s Research Hospital have discovered evidence that a series of genetic mutations work together to initiate most cases of an aggressive and often-fatal form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Survival rates of childhood cancers, especially leukemia, have improved greatly in the past three decades, but survivors of this disease still seem to face many health and lifestyle challenges as young adults.

The dramatic increase that has occurred in the cure rate for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) will be difficult to replicate in older patients without considerable additional research, according to an article by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital authors that appears in the March 22 issue of the Lancet.

Human white blood cells, engineered to recognize other malignant immune cells, could provide a novel therapy for patients with highly lethal B cell cancers such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC).

In the September 15th issue of Genes & Development, Drs. Richard T. Williams, Willem den Besten, and Charles J. Sherr at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis TN, lend new insights into how an aggressive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) develops, and how sensitivity to the targeted chemotherapeutic drug, imatinib, can be diminished through interactions between tumor cells and the host microenvironment.

An effective way to fight leukemia might be to knock out a specific protein that protects cancer cells from dying, a new study shows.

Approximately 20% of children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia will experience a relapse of their disease following treatment. Of these, most will never be cured.

St. Jude study shows survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia are increasingly likely to develop second tumors during adulthood, demonstrating the value of long-term patient follow-up in designing safer treatments

Survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia have a significantly increased risk of secondary cancers developing over 30 years after leukemia treatment when compared to the general population, according to a study in the March 21 issue of JAMA.