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New Data Now Available for Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia, A Rare Form of Blood Cancer

NCI’s Childhood Cancer Data Initiative (CCDI) funding has facilitated the sharing of Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML) data for researchers. Data are stored at NCI’s Cancer Data Service (CDS) and can be accessed through the database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP’s) controlled-access process.

JMML is a rare but aggressive form of blood cancer that primarily affects children under 4 years of age. To better understand this complex disease, a JMML tissue bank was established at University of California San Francisco (UCSF). For more than 30 years, UCSF researchers, starting with Dr. Kevin Shannon and then Dr. Mignon Loh, have collected and banked tissue, maintained consent documentation, and followed patients over time.

“It has been a privilege to have access to this unique cohort of precious patient samples,” said Dr. Elliot Stieglitz, who now leads this initiative. “This collection has enabled us to analyze thousands of specimens, and to follow those patients for years, giving us a better understanding of the genetic, epigenetic, and biochemical basis of this Ras-driven leukemia. We want to share this data set with the JMML community at large,” he added.

Dr. Subhashini Jagu, a CBIIT health science administrator and CCDI Data Platform Working Group member, noted, “By depositing fully processed data, linked to well annotated anonymized patients in an easily accessible online database, we’re able to facilitate future JMML research and develop effective therapeutics.”

For details on some of the studies supported by these data, see the following publications:

Learn more about NCI’s CCDI and how this special initiative is helping to identify, collect, and share data to advance research on rare childhood cancers such as JMML.

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