Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer in children and poses a significant threat to health. The joint research project "EDI-4-ALL" (Early detection and interception for acute lymphoblastic leukemia) aims at the development of new analysis tools for the early detection of a genetic predisposition to ALL in newborns. The project is a joint endeavour by leading scientists from the Universities of Düsseldorf, Gießen and Bonn, the Charité Berlin and Zytovision, under participation of ImmunoSensation2 member Prof. Aleksandra Pandyra. The project is funded with a total of 2.6 million Euros by the BMBF.
With a factor of 100:1, the genetic predisposition for ALL is significantly more common than the actual disease. Hence, the scientists that joined forces under the umbrella of EDI-4-All aim to identify the risk factors that promote the progression from a predisposition to leukemia to actual full-blown leukemia. To this end, a new high-throughput method is to be developed, which will enable screening of umbilical cord blood from 3,000 newborns. In addition, microbiome samples from the children and epidemiological data will be analyzed and evaluated using artificial intelligence.
To reach this goal, EDI-4-ALL unites leading experts and institutions. The University Hospital Düsseldorf (Dr. Ute Fischer, Dr. Melina Mescher, Prof. Arndt Borkhardt and Prof. Dr. Gesine Kögler), Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (PD Dr. Cornelia Eckert), ZytoVision GmbH (Dr. Britta Meyer, Bremerhaven), the German Cancer Research Center (Dr. David Koppstein, Heidelberg), Justus Liebig University Giessen (Prof. Dr. Stefan Janssen), the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (Prof. Dr. Aleksandra Pandyra) are collaborating internationally with one of the largest maternity clinics in Spain, BCNatal in Barcelona (Prof. Dr. Eduard Gratacos), and the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization, IARC/WHO in Lyon (Dr. Joachim Schüz). The Löwenstern e.V. (Dr. Friedhelm Schuster), an association for the benefit of children with cancer, is supporting the project from the perspective of affected patients and their parents.
The project is part of the National Decade against Cancer and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with a total of over 2.6 million euros. With the successful implementation of EDI-4-ALL, important progress could be made in risk-adapted early detection of cancer. The quality of life of affected children could be sustainably improved by identifying the predisposition to leukemia in newborns at an early stage and preventing it from developing into full-blown cancer in childhood.
Contact
Dr. Ute Fischer
Clinic for Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Clinical Immunology, Düsseldorf University Hospital
Tel.: 0211 81-16339
ute.fischer@med.uni-duesseldorf.de
Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology
University Hospital Bonn
+49 228 287 51971
