Why does one child’s disease respond well to treatment and another doesn’t?

Dr. Kathleen Neville is looking at genetic variants that influence why children’s bodies respond differently to medications. Dr. Neville is one of only a handful of physicians in the country trained in both pediatric hematology/oncology and clinical pharmacology.  She is also unique in that she holds a masters degree in clinical research.

Genomics:

Cancer and inherited genetic abnormalities are caused by alterations or defects in our body’s chromosomes. But we’ve never been able to see all the genetic nuances of exactly how those chromosomes are different until now.  Children’s Mercy research scientists have developed novel methods for design and preparation of single copy DNA probes that represent major advances in diagnostic technology.  The technology has allowed researchers to investigate in greater genomic resolution chromosome abnormalities in chronic myelogenous leukemia patients.  A better understanding of the structure of these chromosomes could impact the course of treatment and lead to early and more accurate diagnoses and more timely and effective therapies.

BMT:

Children’s Mercy is an original member institution of the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Consortium and was for the last 7 years the Consortium’s Operations Center Funded by NIH U01 program grants and contracts, the consortium’s goal is to improve the success of bone marrow transplants while reducing the complications associated with this high risk therapy for children.  The PBMTC, now integrally linked with COG, is the first and only collaborative group of pediatric bone marrow transplant centers dedicated to pediatric bone marrow transplant research.

AML:

Acute myelogenous leukemia laboratory and clinical trials is an area of research emphasis at Children’s Mercy.  Physician scientists at Children’s Mercy lead several trials in the NIH’s Children’s Oncology Group.  From 1999-2003, the largest clinical trial for Downs Syndrome children with AML, COG A2971, was lead by Dr. Alan Gamis and was recently reported at the American Society of Hematology meetings.  Dr. Gamis has continued his research in AML, as Study Chair of the recently opened Phase III trial, COG AAML0531, which is examining the incorporation of monoclonal antibody therapy to modern pediatric chemotherapy regimens.  Dr. Gamis has recently been appointed as Chair of COG’s Myeloid Disease Steering Committee overseeing all COG’s current, and the development of future, myeloid cancer trials.

Children's Mercy scientists are now involved in investigation of a new modality against childhood AML antibodies linked to potent poisons that target specifically the leukemia cells themselves, sparing the normal cells around them.

COG Research at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics

• Actively provide opportunities for patients to enroll onto COG trials under the direction of Dr Maxine Hetherington, Children’s Mercy’s COG Principal Investigator.
  
• Physicians, nurses and other care providers actively oversee and develop clinical trials within COG.
  
• Investigators are committee members or leaders in trials in Myeloid Leukemia, Hodgkins Disease, Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Neuroblastoma, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Ewings, and Central Nervous System tumors, along with COG trials in Surgery, Nursing, Epidemiology, and Stem Cell Transplant.
  
• Leadership over the COG Myeloid Leukemia and COG Nursing Committees is provided by several Children’s Mercy investigators.
  
• Children’s Mercy investigators play an integral role in the auditing process that COG employs to ensure the validity of its research results.