Freya De Muyer

Leukaemia is the leading cause of death in patients under 20 years, with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) showing the highest incidence in this patient group. T-cell ALL (T-ALL) represents 10-15% of paediatric ALL cases, but has a worse prognosis than B-ALL, partly due to a higher risk of leukemic cells invading the central nervous system (CNS) niche. While CNS-directed therapies achieve 80-90% survival rates, CNS involvement at diagnosis is linked to poor prognosis, accounting for 30-40% of relapses, and these therapies are highly toxic, especially to a developing brain. In my project, we will be working on a multi-omics characterization approach of T-ALL blasts that both have the ability to infiltrate and adapt to the CNS  niche. This will include transcriptomics, m6A methylation and proteomics profiling of CNS-isolated leukemic cells. The goal is to uncover the molecular mechanisms driving central nervous system invasion, to aid development of novel more effective CNS-directed therapies in paediatric patients with reduced toxicity and side-effects. I will also focus on extracellular vesicle (EV)-mediated intercellular communication between T-ALL blasts and CNS niche stromal cells that contributes to this CNS involvement and drives aggressiveness in this common childhood cancer.
 

• Lab address: Ghent University, Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Medical Research Building 2 (MRB2), entrance 38, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
• Ntziachristos lab
• CMGG (Center for Medical Genetics Ghent)
• Freya De Muyer is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks