Paediatric haematology, oncology and haemostaseology -
PD Dr. med. Thomas Lehrnbecher

Expertise

The group mainly works in the field of infectious complications in immunocompromised patients. A focus is on the characterisation of low- and high risk groups using clinical parameters and genetic polymorphisms of the immune system. In addition, invasive fungal infections are investigated. Current activities include the detection, characterization, and expansion of aspergillus-specific T cells with the goal of adoptive immunotherapy. The group is also involved in multi-center studies on the early detection of invasive fungal disease in children with AML and on the reconstitution of the immune system of children and the effects of re-vaccination after chemotherapy.

Resources and Abilities

DNA sequencing
PCR, RT-PCR
Detection and enrichment of IFNg secreting cells by cytokine secretion assay
Selection and cloning of CMV and aspergillus specific T cells

Publications

Beck O, Topp MS, Koehl U, Roilides E, Simitsopoulou M, Hanisch M, Sarfati J, Latgé JP, Klingebiel T, Einsele H, Lehrnbecher T. Generation of highly purified and functionally active human TH1-cells against Aspergillus fumigatus. Blood 2006 (in press)
Lehrnbecher T, Bernig T, Hanisch M, Koehl U, Behl M, Reinhardt D, Creutzig U, Klingebiel T, Chanock SJ, Schwabe D Common genetic variants in the interleukin-6 and chitotriosidase genes are associated with the risk for severe infection in children undergoing therapy for acute myeloid leukemia. Leukemia 2005; 19: 1745-1750
Creutzig, U, Zimmermann M, Reinhardt D, Dworzak M, Stary J, Lehrnbecher T Early deaths and treatment-related mortality in children undergoing therapy for acute myeloid leukemia: Analysis of the multicenterclinical trials AML-BFM 93 and AML-BFM 98. J Clin Oncol 2004; 21: 4384-4393
Lehrnbecher T, Fleischhack G, Hanisch M, Deinlein F, Simon A, Bernig T, Chanock SJ, Klingebiel T. Circulating levels and promoter polymorphisms of IL-6 and IL-8 in pediatric cancer patients with fever and neutropenia. Haematologica 2004; 89:234-236
Lehrnbecher T, Varwig D, Kaiser J, Reinhardt D, Klingebiel T, Creutzig U. Infectious complications in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia: analysis of the prospective multi-institutional clinical trial AML-BFM 93. Leukemia 2004; 18: 72-77
Lehrnbecher T, Foster CB, Zhu S, Venzon D, Steinberg SM, Wyvill K, Metcalf, JA, Cohen SS, Kovacs J, Yarchoan R, Blauvelt A, Chanock SJ. Variant genotypes of FcgRIIIa influence the development of Kaposi´s sarcoma in HIV-infected men. Blood 2000; 95: 2386-2390