Welcome to the Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment

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CIRCLE's scientists collaborate in new ways and use the latest methods to search for the causes of leukemia in children. Leukemia is the cancer that is most commonly diagnosed in children, so it is very important to find its causes and do whatever we can to eliminate them.

We have learned that there are several different kinds of leukemia that probably have different causes. We have to separate these out to be able to see the causes of the disease.

We are looking at exposures that occur in people’s houses to see whether they cause leukemia. We have learned a lot about contaminants that are in house dust.

We work with investigators all around the world through the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium (CLIC). The power of greater numbers can speed research. Visit the web site for CLIC

Investigators with CIRCLE also work on many other projects. For example, the California Childhood Leukemia Study (CCLS), started in 1995 by CIRCLE Director Patricia Buffler, is one of the largest studies of this subject in the world. Visit the web site for the CCLS Study

SAVE THE DATE -- National Conference -- Protecting Children's Health for a Lifetime -- will be Oct 29-30 in Washington DC. Discuss current research on children's environmental health and how it can be applied in clinical settings and to advance public policy. More info at http://www.scgcorp.com/PCH2013/

CIRCLE organized the first-ever Symposium on Cumulative Impacts and Children's Environmental Health earlier this year with other organizations. You can see it on-line. View the Videos and Resources here.

Project Leader Joe Wiemels presented at the Inaugural Clinical Epigenome Conference in June at a session on Mechanisms on (de) Methylation Underlying Disease. His topic was DNA Methylation Changes in Pre-B Cell Development and Childhood Leukemia.

Cancer Epidemiology published an article by CIRCLE investigators and collaborators explaining how the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium fills gaps in knowledge about the role of environmental and genetic risk factors, critical windows of exposure, and effects of gene-environment interactions. See the abstract at Pubmed

PRENATAL VITAMINS AND FOLIC ACID ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED LEUKEMIA -- Catherine Metayer presented an analysis from the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in April. Maternal intake of vitamins and folic acid during the prenatal period was associated with reduced risks of childhood ALL and AML. The abstract is here.

CIRCLE HOSTED THE INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM ON CHILDHOOD CANCER IN BERKELEY IN 2012. Researchers share data and research approaches to better understand the role of infectious, environmental, and genetic risk factors in childhood leukemia. The 2013 meeting will be in Lyon in October.

IMPROVING KNOWLEDGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES OF LEUKEMIA IN CHILDREN -- Videos by CIRCLE investigators from the Oct 2012 EPA/NIEHS Webinar Series. Posted by US EPA at this link.

Videos from the 2012 Symposium on Children's Environmental Health Research and Policy Implications at this link to You Tube.