Vanessa Williams

• BSc (Hons) Biomedical Genetics
• Use of methylation profiling to identify genes involved in relapse in adult ALL

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) can occur in both children and adults. While outcomes are generally very good in children, the survival rates in adults remain at only about 40%. Nearly all adult ALL patients will initially respond to treatment, but about half of these will subsequently relapse. After relapse outcome is very poor and so identifying the mechanisms behind relapse will be crucial for improving treatment. We have previously used a genome wide scan to identify genes that are often switched off during progression to relapse by a change in the DNA called DNA methylation. This change in the DNA occurs in a very similar way both childhood and adult ALL and so it is likely that these genes may also be switched off by DNA methylation in adult ALL. This project will use a technique known as pyrosequencing, which allows very accurate quantification of this DNA methylation to determine if these same genes are linked to relapse in adult ALL and therefore may be clinically useful to identify the patients likely to relapse and as targets for developing new treatments to prevent relapse.

Funding source: Newcastle University