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National Cancer Institute U.S. National Institutes of Health www.cancer.gov
About DCEG

Blanche P. Alter, M.D., M.P.H.

Expert

Location: 6120 Executive Boulevard, EPS Room 7020
Phone: 301-594-7642
Fax: 301-496-1854
E-mail: alterb@mail.nih.gov

Blanche P. Alter, M.D., M.P.H.

Biography

Dr. Alter received an A.B. from Radcliffe College, an M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. She did an internship and residency in Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins, and a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Boston Children's Hospital, as well as a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is board certified in Pediatrics and in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Her previous faculty appointments include Assistant and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School (1974-79), Professor of Medicine and of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine (1979-92), and Professor of Pediatrics and of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch (1992-1999), where she was Chief of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. In 1999 she returned to Johns Hopkins to obtain her Masters in Public Health (MPH) and then joined the NCI in September, 2000 as a Cancer Expert in the Clinical Genetics Branch. Her research interests are in cancer-prone genetic syndromes, particularly the hematologic bone marrow failure disorders.

Research Interests

  • Human Genetics Program
  • Clinical Genetics Branch
  • Clinical Cancer Genetics

Research

A new interdisciplinary clinical research program is being developed within CGB, involving systematic investigation of cancer in the hereditary bone marrow failure syndromes (http://marrowfailure.cancer.gov/). The prototype disorder for this program is Fanconi's anemia, in which there is a large excess of unusual cancers that occur at atypically early ages, including myelodysplasia, myeloid leukemias, and cancers of the oropharynx, esophagus, cervix and vulva, and liver. Other hematologic conditions with increased occurrences of specific and early cancers include dyskeratosis congenita, Diamond-Blackfan anemia, and Shwachman-Diamond syndrome, as well as additional even less common diseases. This set of disorders will be used as a model for the study of mechanisms of cancer development in human populations.

This new project will develop an active, protocol-driven clinical research effort. Investigations will include surveys to determine the incidence and characteristics of cancer in each of the syndromes; case-control studies to identify additional risk factors and perhaps new cancer pathways; genotype/phenotype correlations with reference to cancer susceptibility; heterozygote surveys with regard to the possible relation between the carrier state and cancer; and biologic studies of the tumors to determine their resemblance to their counterparts in the general population. The patients who have these syndromes may comprise a group at high risk of cancer which may be suitable for studies of cancer screening and prevention modalities.

Selected Publications

  • Rosenberg PS, Alter BP, Socie G, Gluckman E. Secular trends in outcomes for fanconi anemia patients who receive transplants: implications for future studies. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 11(9):672-9, 2005
  • Alter BP. Cancer in Fanconi Anemia, 1927-2001. Cancer 97:425-440, 2003.
  • Rosenberg PS, Greene MH, Alter BP. Cancer Incidence in persons with Fanconi Anemia. Blood 101:822-826, 2003.
  • Alter BP. Bone marrow failure syndromes in children. Pediatric Clinics of North America 49:973-988, 2002.
  • Alter BP, Caruso JP, Drachtman RA, Uchida T, Elghetany MT. Fanconi anemia: Myelodysplasia as a predictor of outcome. Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics 117:125-131, 2000.

Collaborators

DCEG Collaborators

  • Mark H. Greene, M.D., Jennifer Loud, M.S.N., C.R.N.P., June Peters, M.S., Nancy Weissman, M.S.S.W., Philip Rosenberg, Ph.D.