Childhood Leukemia
A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 45504
Special Issue Editors
Interests: childhood leukemia; hematological malignancies; transcriptional regulation; gene expression; epigenetics; signal transduction; tumor suppression; targeted therapy; acute lymphoblastic leukemia; combination therapies
Interests: translational cancer research; pharmacogenomics; cancer genetics; medical biochemistry; clinical pharmacology; clinical genetics; diabetes genetics; nanomedicine; bile acid research; oxidative medicine
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Childhood leukemia is the most common malignancy in children. It encompasses several types of hematological malignancy, each with unique pathogeneses and treatment strategies. Over the past 70 years, we have witnessed tremendous progress towards understanding the mechanisms of leukemogenesis and developing novel treatments for these diseases.
The discovery of tumor suppressors, as well as oncogenes that act as major drivers of malignant transformation, provided insights into the transcriptional network and signaling pathways that regulate gene expression in leukemia. The use of next-generation sequencing furthered our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of malignant transformation and relapse, discovery of novel biomarkers, and ultimately to the development of a molecular classification of leukemia, with the identification of novel subtypes of high-risk leukemia (e.g., Ph-like B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia).
Clinical research led by clinical trial groups resulted in advanced therapeutic protocols. The development of targeted therapy as well as immunotherapy with chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cell therapy) paved the way to a precision medicine approach. Advances in stem cell transplant protocols and techniques led to an improved outcome following this procedure. The above-described research advances improved the treatment and overall prognosis of childhood leukemia, resulting in a current 5-year survival rate of 83.6% for pediatric leukemia, as compared to less than 37% survival in 1975.
There are currently challenges associated with elucidating the basic mechanisms of the malignant transformation, progression, and development of chemotherapy resistance in childhood leukemia. Clinically, further improvement of overall survival, understanding the long-term effects of chemotherapy, reducing racial health disparities in childhood leukemia, and advancing immunotherapy and stem cell transplantation are only some of the current challenges in this field.
This Special Issue will highlight the basic, translational, and clinical aspects of childhood leukemia, along with the latest advances and future directions in understanding molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis, clinical presentation, and treatment of these diseases.
Dr. Sinisa Dovat
Dr. Karmen Stankov
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- leukemia
- pediatrics
- novel therapy
- pathogenesis
- gene expression
- signal transduction
- precision medicine
- epigenetics
- oncogene
- tumor suppression
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