News Summary

University of Minnesota pediatric cancer epidemiologist Jenny Poynter, Ph.D., M.P.H., has earned a 5-year $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study pediatric germ cell tumors (GCT).

Quotes

“We are trying to better understand who is at risk for germ cell tumors, while also figuring out how genes are expressed in children with these tumors,” Poynter said. “Our ultimate goal is to develop treatments that work best for the tumors based on the genetic profile of the child.”

Full Text

Minneapolis / St. Paul (August 29, 2011) – University of Minnesota pediatric cancer epidemiologist Jenny Poynter, Ph.D., M.P.H., has earned a 5-year $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study pediatric germ cell tumors (GCT).

Germ cells give rise to eggs or sperm, and these types of tumors are relatively rare, accounting for three percent of childhood cancers. The tumors are thought to result from events that occur in utero, but researchers don’t know the exact cause. In addition to developing within the ovaries and testis, GCTs can occur in the head, neck and pelvis.

The latest NIH grant will allow Poynter and colleagues to begin the largest epidemiologic study ever conducted on the genetic susceptibility of developing pediatric germ cell tumors.

“We are trying to better understand who is at risk for germ cell tumors, while also figuring out how genes are expressed in children with these tumors,” Poynter said. “Our ultimate goal is to develop treatments that work best for the tumors based on the genetic profile of the child.”

To complete the study, Poynter will recruit participants from the Children’s Cancer Research Network, a pediatric cancer registry established by the Children’s Oncology Group, a national network of institutions fighting childhood cancers. She will be able to study genetic material from children who are diagnosed with germ cell tumors and, in some cases, will have access to tumor tissue samples.

Poynter, an assistant professor in the Medical School's Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Epidemiology and Clinical Research, hopes to discover how early life events may lead to long-term alterations in gene function of stem cells and increase the risk of cancer. Understanding how GCTs develop may give important insights into the fetal origins of cancer development, leading to improved treatments and prevention of both pediatric and adult tumors.

Co-investigators on the study include: Julie Ross, Ph.D., Heather Nelson, Ph.D., M.P.H., Kevin Silverstein, Ph.D. (University of Minnesota); Lindsay Frazier, M.D. (Dana Farber Cancer Institute); James Amatruda, M.D. (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas); Bryan Langholz, Ph.D. (Children’s Oncology Group); Stella Davies, M.D., Ph.D. (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center); and Jacqueline Starr, Ph.D., M.P.H., (Seattle Children’s Hospital).