Publications by authors named "E M Nickels"

Background: Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related mortality in children. Causes of leukemia, the most common form, are largely unknown. Growing evidence points to an origin in-utero, when global redistribution of DNA methylation occurs driving tissue differentiation.

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Aberrant DNA methylation constitutes a key feature of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia at diagnosis, however its role as a predisposing or early contributor to leukemia development remains unknown. Here, we evaluate DNA methylation at birth in 41 leukemia-discordant monozygotic twin pairs using the Illumina EPIC array on archived neonatal blood spots to identify epigenetic variation associated with development of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia, independent of genetic influence. Through conditional logistic regression we identify 240 significant probes and 10 regions associated with the discordant onset of leukemia.

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Background: Periconceptional folate intake is associated with the establishment of DNA methylation in offspring; however, variations in this relation by food sources compared with folic acid supplements are not described. Also, maternal folate intake is associated with decreased risk of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but the mechanism is not known.

Objectives: We evaluated the relation between periconceptional folate intake by source and DNA methylation at birth in a cohort of pediatric ALL cases and controls in an epigenome-wide association study.

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Nuclear protein of the testis (NUT) carcinoma is a rare, undifferentiated carcinoma that is characterized by NUTM1 gene rearrangements. Patients with NUT carcinoma have an overall survival of approximately 5% at 5 years despite a multimodal treatment approach. This report illustrates the management of mandibular NUT carcinoma in a pediatric patient, complemented by a systematic review of head and neck NUT carcinoma.

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