Erin Peckham-Gregory
Baylor College of Medicine, TX·Genetics
Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare childhood disease in which abnormal immune cells, CD207-positive dendritic cells, build up in lesions along with inflammation. It is a type of myeloid neoplasia, a growth arising from blood-forming cells.
- Fields
Genetics
Public Health & Epidemiology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
Langerhans cell histiocytosis
pediatric cancer
myeloid neoplasia
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2028
What they work on
- Analyze germline whole-genome sequencing data from 191 LCH case-parent trios in the Gabriella Miller Kids First program to define inheritance patterns and the role of de novo mutations in LCH risk.
- Test whether inherited variants in TGF-beta, BMP and SMAD pathway genes are associated with common tumor mutations such as BRAF V600E and MAP2K1, using paired germline genome and tumor exome data from 109 cases.
- Determine whether identified germline variants predict time to first relapse or disease progression, or time to first LCH-associated neurodegeneration event, to find prognostic markers.
More about the research
The median age at diagnosis is 30 months. First-line chemotherapy fails in about half of patients, many relapse repeatedly, and some develop a potentially fatal brain disorder called LCH-associated neurodegeneration (LCH-ND). About 80% of lesions carry mutations that turn on the MAPK pathway, a cell-growth signaling chain, most often BRAF V600E. But about 20% have no identified driver mutation. Inherited (germline) genetic risk is also largely unknown.
Why it matters
Children with Langerhans cell histiocytosis often relapse after chemotherapy and can develop fatal neurodegeneration. Finding inherited genetic factors behind LCH risk and poor outcomes could improve genetic risk prediction and help doctors identify high-risk patients. It could also reveal new treatment targets and shed light on other cancers driven by the MAPK pathway.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jenny Poynter
University of Minnesota, MN·Public Health & Epidemiology
Identify tumor DNA methylation patterns, chemical marks that switch genes on or off, that predict relapse and death in pediatric germ cell tumors, using the Illumina EPIC array on 500 tumor samples.
Ariadne Letra
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Genetics
Determine the genetic architecture of familial cleft lip and palate (NSCLP) by combining linkage, case-control association and polygenic risk score analyses of whole genome sequences from 172 multigenerational families and additional datasets.
Robert Klein
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY·Genetics
Identify genes whose inherited, genetically controlled expression changes alter the risk of dying from prostate cancer, using a transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) with prostate-specific models.
The school
Baylor College of Medicine: 38 labs on PI Pages, $881M a year on research, 115 research doctorates a year.
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