Research Related to Histiocytosis
Disclaimer: All of these primers are written by parents that have NO medical background prior to having to deal directly with the disease. The contents should not be misinterpreted as medical advice. Our opinions could be wrong. The intent is to help you come up the learning curve and hopefully bypass some of the difficulties we have encountered. Always refer to your doctor. Like almost all things in life, there are MANY correct answers.Most of the research that may go toward solving the problem of Histiocytosis is not direct research but indirect. There is a ton of research going on in fields that are not exactly concerned with histiocytosis, but the discoveries in those areas may lead to discoveries that impact histiocytosis.
Clinical LCH III Study - Because of the rarity of LCH, no single institution encounters enough cases to make valid conclusions on the impact of treatments on LCH. Also, because of the many different ways LCH presents itself there is additional difficulty.
Cytokines - The human body is made up of an enormous number of cells, the cells communicate with each other in many different ways. One way they communicate is by a bunch of different chemicals collectively called Cytokines. These Cytokines could be responsible for or a key component of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis. A little more detail - Cytokines are used to mitigate or turn up the immune response, the interactions of the immune system and the cells of the body is not a simple linear system, it is very complex with many feedback loops. Incorrect expression of cytokines could be responsible for prolonged immune response which would cause damaging lesions to the body.
Dendritic Cell Research - Dendritic cells are only recently being understood for how important these cells are. In normal function they consume antigens and then display part of the antigen on their surface. They then migrate to the lymph system to present the antigen to other cells (helper T lymphocytes) which kicks off the adaptive immune response. In recent years there has been increased interest in these cells. They may be the key to solving problems like cancer and AIDS.
Immunotherapy - Murine monoclonal antibodies to CD1a
Immune System Research -
Gnomic Research -
Histology & Pathology -Cell Microbiology -
Cancer Research -
New Chemotherapies & New Methods of Fighting Tumor Growth -
Epidemiology -
Gamma Knife -
Bone Marrow Transplant -
Who is Working on This Problem?
Disclaimer: All of these primers are written by parents that have NO medical background prior to having to deal directly with the disease. The contents should not be misinterpreted as medical advice. Our opinions could be wrong. The intent is to help you come up the learning curve and hopefully bypass some of the difficulties we have encountered. Always refer to your doctor. Like almost all things in life, there are MANY correct answers.Because Histiocytosis are rare diseases, they do not get much funding. So who is working to solve the problem? Some of the potential sources are not as direct as you might expect.
Practicing Clinical Oncologists / Hematologists - Examining clinical presentation and learning how these diseases reveal themselves. Treating the disease and seeing what happens (per a study). Pathologists - Learning the many was the disease presents itself on the microscopic level. Basic Histiocyte Research - Some research sponsored by the Histiocytosis Association and Society Cellular Microbiologists - Not directly working on histiocytosis, but discovery in this area could benefit our knowledge Dendritic Cell Biologists - Not directly working on histiocytosis, but current belief is that these cells are somehow fundamentally involved. Genetic Scientists - Not directly working on histiocytosis, but basic research in this field will help. Cancer Drug Producers - Not directly working on histiocytosis, but new chemotherapies could help.
Parents & Patients - An extremely motivated group!
