LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 8, 2025--
A new study led by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has linked specific molecular markers at birth to future childhood leukemia risk. The study—the largest of its kind in pediatric leukemia—identified distinct DNA methylation signatures in newborns who later developed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The findings could pave the way for understanding why certain children develop ALL.
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Eric Nickels, MD, MS, a pediatric oncologist in the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute at CHLA, presented the results Dec. 6 in an oral presentation at the 2025 American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting in Orlando, Florida.
“This study gives us a window into the earliest molecular changes that precede childhood leukemia,” Dr. Nickels says. “It’s exciting because it moves us closer to understanding which children may be at risk for this cancer.”
Early clues at birth
Scientists have long suspected that pediatric ALL begins before birth, with early genetic changes arising during fetal development. But until now, researchers had limited ability to examine epigenetic features that could contribute to a child’s risk. One of those features is DNA methylation—chemical tags that regulate which genes are turned on or off. “If you think of DNA as a textbook, methylation tells the cell which pages to read,” Dr. Nickels explains.
To study these markers at birth, he and his collaborators at the Keck School of Medicine of USC accessed an extraordinary resource: nearly 1,700 archived newborn blood spots collected across California during routine newborn screenings.
A clear pattern
When the team compared methylation patterns across these samples, a striking signal emerged. Babies who developed ALL in childhood showed consistent differences in DNA methylation at birth compared with healthy controls.
Researchers found one of the strongest associations at a site in ARID5B, a gene already linked to ALL—making this finding especially compelling.
The team also identified more than 100 regions where methylation patterns differed between newborns who developed ALL as children and those who did not. Many of these regions were located in genes involved in blood cell development or previously linked to leukemia biology, including FLI1 and LAX1.
Together, these findings suggest that measurable epigenetic differences are present at birth in children who later develop ALL.
“Seeing these differences in newborns tells us that important biological changes are happening far earlier than we can usually detect,” Dr. Nickels says.
Future directions
The team is now studying how these early patterns influence gene activity and how they compare with changes seen at diagnosis. That knowledge could help reveal which molecular pathways are disrupted first—and which might be targets for intervention.
Because some methylation changes are shaped by maternal nutrition and environmental exposures, the study opens the door to exploring whether certain risks could eventually be reduced—preventing leukemia from ever developing.
“This is a first step toward that long-term goal, but it’s an important one,” Dr. Nickels says. “The more we learn about how leukemia begins, the closer we will be to finding ways to predict—and potentially prevent—this disease.”
About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is at the forefront of pediatric medicine and is the largest provider of hospital care for children in California. Since its founding in 1901, CHLA has delivered a level of pediatric care that is among the best in the world. Ranked one of the top 10 children’s hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles provides comprehensive and compassionate care to one of the largest and most diverse pediatric patient populations in the country. The hospital is the top-ranked children’s hospital in California and the Pacific U.S. region for 2025-26. A leader in pediatric research, CHLA is among the top 10 children’s hospitals for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles supports the full continuum of research, translating scientific discoveries into life-changing treatments for patients around the globe. As a pediatric academic medical center, CHLA is also home to one of the largest graduate education programs for pediatricians in the United States. The hospital’s commitment to building stronger, healthier communities is evident in CHLA’s efforts to enhance health education and literacy, introduce more people to careers in health care, and fight food insecurity. To learn more, follow CHLA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and X, and visit CHLA.org.
Eric Nickels, MD, MS pediatric oncologist in the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, presented the study results Dec. 6 in an oral presentation at the 2025 American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting in Orlando, Florida.
