Dr Stefan Meyer

Cancer and research avatar

Department of Paediatric Oncology
Christie Hospital NHS Trust
Manchester

Learning more about childhood cancers

Dr Stefan Meyer is a leading childhood cancer specialist at Manchester Children's Hospital and the Christie Hospital NHS Trust. His research focuses on a group of genes, known as the Fanconi Anaemia (FA) genes, some of which are faulty in cancer. Dr Meyer is studying these genes in childhood cancers including leukaemias and brain tumours to find out how they cause cancer cells to grow out of control. This knowledge could lead to ways to improve treatments for a range of childhood cancers.

Fanconi Anaemia genes

We inherit two copies of all our genes - one from our mother (the maternal copy) and the paternal copy from our father. The FA genes are so called because children who inherit faults in both maternal and paternal copies of these genes are born with the rare condition Fanconi Anaemia. Children with thissyndrome have growth abnormalities and an increased risk of developing certain types of cancer such as acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

Further research has shown that some of the genes classified as 'FA genes' are faulty in cancers that develop by chance in children and adults who do not have an underlying cancer syndrome. This includes the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2.

For this reason, Dr Meyer is studying the FA genes in childhood cancers not linked to the condition FA. In particular, his work focuses on medulloblastomas, the most common type of brain tumour in children.

What are the effects of these faults?

Dr Meyer and his team are also investigating the knock-on effects of faults in the FA genes and how these may lead to cancer. They are using a variety of lab techniques to study tissue and cells from FA children with AML.

So far, the group have found that faults in both copies of the BRCA2 gene lead to increased activity of a gene called EVI1 in leukaemia cells. The researchers are investigating EVI1 further to find out how it contributes to the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells.

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