Grant: CIHR Fellowship

The most common form of childhood blood cancer is acute lymphatic leukemia (ALL). ALL is characterized by an uncontrollable growth of immature white blood cells. Approximately 80% of ALL cases can be successfully treated with chemotherapy. However, if the disease returns, which occurs in 15-20% of cases, these children often cannot be saved, even if a blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) is performed. For these children, new treatment options are urgently needed in order to enable them to survive this disease. In fact, recurring ALL is the sixth most common cancer diagnosis in childhood highlighting the importance of finding a cure for this disease. In healthy children the immune system is capable of detecting and killing defective cells. When this ability is lost, for yet not fully known reasons, leukemia can develop. One reason why ALL returns in these children is that ALL cells become resistant to chemotherapy. Therefore, alternative treatment options, possibly in combination with chemotherapy, are needed. When a child receives a BMT from a healthy individual, the immune system's ability to recognize defective cells, such as ALL cells, can be restored and the child healed. In a similar way, new drugs that affect the immune system may be a promising way of finding and ultimately destroying ALL cells. A new drug that is directed towards the toll-like receptor - a marker that is found on the surface of many blood cells of the immune system - is such an exciting innovative approach to developing a new immune therapy. Recent research indicates that the immune system can be triggered to recognize ALL cells by stimulating the toll-like receptors on various immune cells. However, further research is urgently needed to make this promising lab-based knowledge applicable for clinical treatment. Ultimately, this work will lead to new treatment options for curing recurring ALL.