Identifying patients at risk for hereditary myeloid malignancy syndromes incorporating a novel, self-administered questionnaire to an initial screening platform.

Introduction: Four to 10% of cases of myeloid malignancies are inherited. We report our experience on hereditary myeloid malignancy syndromes (HMMS) incorporating a novel questionnaire in the screening platform for patients with myeloid malignancies and aplastic anemia.

Methods: The questionnaire was sent via electronic patient portal prior to clinic visits.

Establishing a mentorship program for prospective genetic counseling graduate students: Two cycles of program experience.

Mentorship has been a long-standing and important piece of healthcare training, but few formal, structured mentorship programs exist in the genetic counseling field. Our report describes the creation and evaluation of the Genetic Counseling Assistant Mentorship Program (GCAMP) after two cycles of the program. Genetic counseling assistant (GCA) mentees were paired with genetic counselor mentors for support and advice primarily surrounding graduate school applications and professional development.

Implementation of a Population-Based Cancer Family History Screening Program for Lynch Syndrome.

Objectives: Lynch syndrome increases risks for colorectal and other cancers. Though published Lynch syndrome cancer risk-management guidelines are effective for risk-reduction, the condition remains under-recognized. The Cancer Genetics Program at an academic medical center implemented a population-based cancer family history screening program, Detecting Unaffected Individuals with Lynch syndrome, to aid in identification of individuals with Lynch syndrome.

Polygenic early-onset colorectal cancer in pediatric patients.

Colorectal cancer in the pediatric population is a rare but transpirable phenomenon. The occurrence should prompt suspicion for underlying genetic mutations in the setting of a hereditary cancer predisposition syndrome. In this series, we outline three pediatric patients with colonic adenocarcinoma who were found to have one or more germline mutations.

A roadmap for precision medicine research recruitment: empirical assessment of the public's willingness to participate.

Precision medicine research recruitment poses challenges. To better understand factors impacting recruitment, this study assessed hypothetical willingness, public opinions of and familiarity with precision medicine research. Adult attendees (n = 942) at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair completed an electronic survey.

IL-15 enhances the antitumor effect of human antigen-specific CD8 T cells by cellular senescence delay.

Optimal expansion protocols for adoptive human T-cell therapy often include interleukin (IL)-15; however, the mechanism by which IL-15 improves the antitumor effect of T cells remains to be elucidated. Using human T cells generated from HLA-A2+ donors against novel T-cell epitopes derived from the human U266 myeloma cell line Ig light chain V-region (idiotype) as a model, we found that T cells cultured with IL-15 provided superior resistance to tumor growth , compared with IL-2, after adoptive transfer into immunodeficient hosts. This effect of IL-15 was associated with delayed/reversed senescence in tumor antigen-specific memory CD8 T cells mediated through downregulation of P21, P16, and P53 expression.

Targeting B-cell malignancies through human B-cell receptor specific CD4 T cells.

The B-cell receptor (BCR) expressed by a clonal B cell tumor is a tumor specific antigen (idiotype). However, the T-cell epitopes within human BCRs which stimulate protective immunity still lack detailed characterization. In this study, we identified 17 BCR peptide-specific CD4 T-cell epitopes derived from BCR heavy and light chain variable region sequences.