B-cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common cancer in children. While great progress has been made in the development of treatments for B-ALL, approximately 20% of patients still fail to respond to standard therapies. Thus, studies that enhance our understanding of the basic biology behind these aggressive sub-types of B-ALL remain important; as such research could plausibly identify effective therapies for patients who have failed standard treatment. The present proposal is based on the observation that a specific sub-type of aggressive B-ALL (low hypodiploid B-ALL) may be derived from very primitive precursors of B-cells. The first two aims proposed will test the hypothesis that these tumors not only derive from primitive precursors, but also retain the activity of specific biological pathways expressed in this cell type, specifically responsiveness t signals from the pre-B cell receptor. If so, then drugs recently developed for mature B cell lymphomas (which typically affect the elderly) may be applicable in this small subset of B-ALL. Thus, the third aim of the proposal is to develop laboratory methods by which to test whether these tumors are especially sensitive to the drug class in question (fostamatinib and ibrutinib).

Public Health Relevance

B-cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common cancer in children; while great progress has been made in the development of treatments for B-ALL, approximately 20% of patients still fail to respond to standard therapies. This study aims to enhance our understanding of the basic biology of an aggressive sub- type of B-ALL, which is hypothesized to derive from an unusually early precursor of B cells. If this hypothesis bears out, the proposed research could plausibly identify effective therapeutic avenues for a subset of B-ALL patients who fail to respond to standard treatment protocols.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
5R21CA187412-02
Application #
8882358
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZCA1)
Program Officer
Jhappan, Chamelli
Project Start
2014-07-01
Project End
2017-12-31
Budget Start
2015-07-01
Budget End
2016-12-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Department
Type
DUNS #
078200995
City
Seattle
State
WA
Country
United States
Zip Code
98109