An immune window of opportunity to prevent childhood B cell leukemia

The prevalence of childhood B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is increasing, particularly in developed countries. There is no clear explanation for this increment, but recent data suggest that, besides genetic predisposition, stress in the immune system (e.g., an infection) might have an important role in B-ALL leukemogenesis. Here, we speculate on how this knowledge might impact B-ALL prevention strategies.Research in C.C.’s laboratory was partially supported by FEDER MINECO (SAF2017-83061-R), the ‘Fundación Ramón Areces’, and a Research Contract with the ‘Fundación Síndrome de Wolf-Hirschhorn o 4p-‘. Institutional grants from the ‘Fundación Ramón Areces’ and ‘Banco de Santander’ to the CBMSO are also acknowledged. The C.C. and C.V-D. labs are members of the EU COST Action LEGEND (CA16223). Research in the C.V-D. group is partially supported by FEDER, ‘Miguel Servet’ Grant (CPII19/00024 - AES 2017-2020) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad) and ‘Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias/Instituto de Salud Carlos III’ (PI17/00167). Research in the I.S-G. group is partially supported by FEDER and by SAF2015-64420-R MINECO/FEDER, UE, RTI2018-093314-B-I00 MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE, Junta de Castilla y León (UIC-017, CSI001U16, CSI234P18, and CSI144P20), the German Carreras Foundation (DJCLS 07R/2019), and the Fundacion Unoentrecienmil (CUNINA project). The I.S-G. lab is a member of the EuroSyStem and DECIDE Network funded by the European Union under the FP7 program. C.V-D. and I.S-G. have been supported by the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS)-Germany (FKZ: 3618S32274)