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MDM2 promoter variation and age of diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Leukemia volume 19, pages 1996–1998 (2005)Cite this article

TO THE EDITOR

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) continues to be the leading cause of childhood cancer, accounting for 25–30% of all diagnoses. Precursor B-cell leukemia, the most common type of childhood leukemia, occurs within a well-defined age period between 2 and 6 years of age. In contrast, infants <1 year of age develop a morphologically distinct leukemia with more aggressive features and a less favorable outcome, suggesting that certain undefined developmental factors may contribute to the variable development, presentation, and outcome of ALL. In addition, ALL demonstrates a novel ethnic variability in incidence with black, Caucasian, and Hispanic children at increasing comparative risk of developing ALL (15/million, 27/million, and 43/million, respectively).1 Research has demonstrated a clear connection between development of ALL and certain rare genetic disorders such as Li-Fraumeni syndrome, but the vast majority of cases continue to have unclear genetic etiologies.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Children's Cancer Fund of Dallas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    R M Swinney, S C Hsu, B A Hirschman, T T-C Chen & G E Tomlinson

  2. Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    G E Tomlinson

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  1. R M Swinney
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  2. S C Hsu
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  3. B A Hirschman
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Correspondence to G E Tomlinson.

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Swinney, R., Hsu, S., Hirschman, B. et al. MDM2 promoter variation and age of diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukemia 19, 1996–1998 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2403941

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