Grant: Project Grant - Priority Announcement: Early Detection/Cancer Prevention

It has long been suspected that infections early in life can change an infant's risk of developing the blood cancer known as B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) later in childhood. However, studies looking for the specific effects of infection in infants have been inconclusive - results supporting both increased and decreased risk of B-ALL have been reported. As identifying the factors that dictate these different outcomes could help us understand the environmental drivers of B-ALL and provide a foundation for new treatment strategies, we have used a combination of mouse and human experimental systems to investigate the immune mechanisms that influence B-ALL progression. Our results over the last 5 years have identified key molecules produced in response to infection that kill leukemia cells. In the proposed study, we will build on these insights to identify the best ways to generate production of these molecules in children undergoing treatment for leukemia. Success in this research could provide a powerful new way to get rid of the treatment-resistant leukemia cells that are the cause of the disease coming back.