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Abdominal Imaging at Initial Diagnosis and Following Relapse in Children With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the most common paediatric malignancy and remains one of the most common causes of cancer-related death in children and adolescents. It is characterised by the proliferation of immature lymphoid cells capable of infiltrating bone marrow, blood and extramedullary sites. Five-year overall survival rates exceed 90% with current multidrug chemotherapeutic regimens. This manuscript reviews the abdominal imaging features of leukaemic infiltration in children with ALL at the time of initial diagnosis and following relapse.

Antigen reactivity defines tissue-resident memory and exhausted T cells in tumors

CD8+ T cells are an important weapon in the therapeutic armamentarium against cancer. While CD8+CD103+ T cells with a tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cell phenotype are associated with favorable prognoses, the tumor microenvironment also contains dysfunctional exhausted T (TEX) cells that exhibit a variety of TRM-like features.

Flt3L-mediated tumor cDC1 expansion enhances immunotherapy by priming stem-like CD8+ T cells in lymph nodes

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) evokes antitumor immunity through the reinvigoration of T cell responses. T cell differentiation status controls response, with less differentiated cells having an enhanced capacity to proliferate after ICB. Given that conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1) maintain precursor exhausted T cells (TPEX), we hypothesized that expansion of cDC1s with Flt3L could enhance responses to ICB. 

Maternal folate and other vitamin supplementation during pregnancy and risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the offspring

The Australian Study of Causes of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Children (Aus-ALL) was designed to test the hypothesis, raised by a previous Western Australia

Cyclophosphamide chemotherapy sensitizes tumor cells to TRAIL-dependent CD8 T cell-mediated immune attack resulting in suppression of tumor growth

Anti-cancer chemotherapy can be simultaneously lymphodepleting and immunostimulatory.

Fetal growth and risk of childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

The relation between intrauterine growth and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia was investigated in an Australian population-based case-control...

Receptor mutation is not a common mechanism of naturally occurring glucocorticoid resistance in leukaemia cell lines

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are among the most important drugs for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

Targeting the effector site with IFN-alphabeta-inducing TLR ligands reactivates tumor-resident CD8 T cell responses to eradicate established solid tumors

Effective antitumor CD8 T cell responses may be activated by directly targeting the innate immune system within tumors.

First Nations Childhood Cancer Research

A first of its kind research program at The Kids Research Institute Australia aims to develop new strategies to better treat Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with cancer.

Current gaps in knowledge and future research directions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with cancer

Paediatric cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death in Australian children. Limited research focuses on cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Although there appears to be a lower incidence of cancer overall in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children compared with non-Indigenous children, a high proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.