leukemia

​​Timothy J. Ley, MD, a leukemia researcher and hematologist at the School of Medicine, has received a seven-year, $6.4 million Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The funding will allow him to continue research aimed at understanding the mutations that initiate acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and how they might be targeted with new approaches.

Researchers led by John F. DiPersio, MD, PhD, at the School of Medicine have designed a way to mitigate graft-versus-host disease, a common and often life-threatening complication of bone marrow transplants that are used to treat leukemia and other blood cancers. The method also employs a molecular imaging tool to help doctors identify patients most likely to develop this dangerous condition.

​Applications for the Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Leukemia Career Enhancement and Developmental Research Awards are being accepted through May 1.

Enzymes linked to diabetes and obesity appear to play key roles in arthritis and leukemia, potentially opening up new avenues for treating these diverse diseases, according to researchers Clay Semenkovich, MD, (left) and Irfan Lodhi, PhD, at the School of Medicine.

At least 2 percent of people over age 40 and 5 percent of people over 70 have mutations linked to leukemia and lymphoma in their blood cells, according to new research led by Li Ding, PhD, at the School of Medicine.

Babies who develop leukemia during the first year of life appear to have inherited an unfortunate combination of genetic variations that may make the infants highly susceptible to the disease, according to a new study led by the School of Medicine’s Todd Druley, MD, PhD.

The National Cancer Institute has awarded two major grants totaling $26 million to leukemia researchers and physicians at the School of Medicine. The funding has the potential to lead to novel therapies for leukemia that improve survival and reduce treatment-related side effects. Pictured are cancer cells from a patient with acute myeloid leukemia.

Graduate student Nick Miller (right) recently donated his stem cells an anonymous leukemia patient. He hopes she is doing well though, in a way, it doesn’t matter. “It’s worth trying regardless,” he says. He encourages students, faculty and staff to register to be a donor during the campus bone marrow drive Sept. 26.

In research that one day could improve the success of stem cell transplants and chemotherapy, scientists have found that distinct niches exist in the bone marrow to nurture different types of blood stem cells.

Every year, Siteman Cancer Center hosts a gathering for former bone marrow transplant patients, their families and the staff who helped care for them. It’s a celebration of survival. And every year, John F. DiPersio, MD, PhD, chief of the Division of Oncology, looks out over the audience and marvels. From the lab to the clinic, DiPersio’s work is guided by his commitment to his patients. ​​