Hammersmith Hospital

Imperial College London is a Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Centre of Excellence.

We are currently investing £4 million into research at this centre. Find out more about all Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research's Centres of Excellence.

Imperial College London has been recognised for its world class research developing better treatments and improvements in diagnosis for all blood cancers, including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

Many of our scientists at Imperial College London are also experts who treat patients with blood cancers at the adjoining Hammersmith Hospital, in west London.

Stem cell transplants

Stem cell transplants are often the last chance of cure for many patients with leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. But the procedure is too risky for many patients, who suffer a harmful and sometimes life-threatening complication called graft versus host disease (GvHD).

Innovative research at Imperial College London is investigating new ways of overcoming GvHD using a newly identified type of stem cell (not the same type as used during the initial transplant) called the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC).

GvHD is caused when the immune cells of the donor, which are also transferred during the transplant, recognise the patient’s own cells as foreign and attack them. Research led by Professor Francesco Dazzi is investigating ways of boosting MSC cells to control the donor immune system.

Improving treatment for myeloma

More than 3,300 people are diagnosed with myeloma in the UK every year. A drug called Bortezomib is commonly used to treat myeloma, however, most patients develop resistance, which is why myeloma is still an incurable disease.

Dr Maurits Kleijnen, at Imperial College London, is teaming up with doctors at Hammersmith Hospital to investigate how myeloma drug resistance develops. This new research will lead to better and more effective treatments.

Dr Tasos Karadimitris is also researching new treatments for myeloma. His research is looking at a group of molecules, called GSL, which are very important for the function of all cells, including cancer cells, but have not been studied in myeloma. Dr Karadimitris is investigating how GSLs may help myeloma cells to survive, in order to decipher whether they can be used as new drug targets. Dr Karadimitris is also investigating the existence of myeloma stem cells, which have been found in many other forms of blood cancer, and are thought to be the source of this disease. Targeting these is key to curing myeloma.

Genes that control leukaemia

Research led by Dr Mattias Merkenschlager is using state of the art technology to identify genes that may cause acute forms of leukaemia in adults.

Studies have shown that defects in a gene called Ikaros controls the rate at which blood cells grow. It is therefore thought that this gene is mutated in the blood cells of people who have leukaemia.

By understanding how this gene works in healthy cells it may be possible to control it, and its effects, in leukaemia cells.

Research led by Dr Paul Farrell is investigating defects in genes called RUNX and CXCR7 to identify more new targets for treatment.

Down’s syndrome and childhood leukaemia

Down’s syndrome is the most common genetic condition in the UK affecting 750 new born babies every year. Children with Down’s syndrome have an increased risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

We have invested in various studies to show that the genetic defect responsible for Down’s syndrome causes major changes to occur during foetal blood cell development.

New research led by Dr Georg Bohn in collaboration with Professor Irene Roberts at Imperial College London is investigating the effects of this genetic abnormality on blood cell development in order to better understand how childhood leukaemia develops.

This Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research award will also establish Dr Georg Bohn as a lecturer in haematology at Imperial College London, and will be the first Paediatric Haematology Lectureship in the UK.