Leukaemia: Research into the next generation of ALL treatments
09/22/2026Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a key area of research at the Institute of Clinical Genetics and Genomic Medicine. Four projects on this form of cancer are currently underway.
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the most common form of cancer in children. Despite major advances in treatment, it continues to pose challenges for the medical community: Why does the course of the disease vary so much? Which genetic alterations influence the response to treatment? What role do factors such as age and gender play?
The Institute of Clinical Genetics and Genomic Medicine at Würzburg University Hospital (UKW) is dedicated to addressing these questions. Four current projects illustrate the breadth of research being carried out at the Institute: they range from artificial intelligence and precision medicine to modern methods of genome analysis and gender-sensitive research.
“With our first publications and the funding we have secured, we have now firmly established ourselves scientifically in Würzburg,” says Professor Anke Katharina Bergmann, who heads the Institute, which was founded in October 2025.
“We aim to investigate ALL from different perspectives and to link clinical questions with modern technologies and large datasets. We would like to build on what has now begun with these first successful projects – and, to this end, also bring new research ideas and collaborations to Würzburg.”
The four projects on ALL are briefly presented below. They are described in detail in a press release from Würzburg University Hospital (in German language).
clinTALL: Classifying subtypes and predicting treatment outcomes
A key milestone is the study on the clinTALL application published in the specialist journal *Genome Medicine*. This machine-learning-based method enables the automated and precise classification of T-cell ALL (T-ALL) into genetic subgroups. It can estimate treatment outcomes based on various data.
Publication: clinTALL : machine learning-driven multimodal subtype classification and treatment outcome prediction in paediatric T-ALL. Genome Medicine 18, 108 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13073-026-01733-8
Gender4ALL: Gender and age as potential influencing factors
The question of whether acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) behaves differently in girls and boys is coming increasingly into focus. With Gender4ALL, the Institute of Clinical Genetics and Genomic Medicine is launching a project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research that systematically investigates possible gender- and age-dependent differences in the disease.
B-other-ALL: New genomic data for hard-to-classify leukaemia
Further project funding has been provided by the German José Carreras Leukaemia Foundation, which is supporting Dr Zeljko Antic in setting up his own research group. The focus is on so-called ‘B-other-ALL’, which affects around ten per cent of children with B-ALL. In these cases, conventional testing methods fail to identify any genetic alterations that would allow for clear classification into a risk group. Consequently, these children are treated according to standardised treatment regimens, even though their conditions may differ significantly at a genetic level. Using particularly powerful genome analysis techniques, known as long-read sequencing, the research team aims to identify previously overlooked genetic and epigenetic alterations, with a view to tailoring therapies more precisely to individual risk profiles.
DUX4-r ALL: Oncogenomic research using the latest technologies
A research project supported by the ‘Tour of Hope’ charity will enable the research group to evaluate the latest genomic technologies and assess the additional benefits they can offer for patient care. Jiangyan Yu ’s team is investigating a genetically complex subgroup of leukaemia known as DUX4-r ALL. The aim is to develop improved diagnostic methods, enable better risk assessment and, as a result, devise more personalised treatment strategies.
