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The coming of age of Langerhans cell histiocytosis

Nature Immunology volume 21, pages 1–7 (2020)Cite this article

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Progress in understanding the rare disease Langerhans cell histiocytosis has stimulated immersive meetings occurring annually over a 30-year period that bring together clinicians, scientists and patients in a unique collaboration.

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Fig. 1: Publications of Nikolas Symposium participants 2000–2019.
Fig. 2: Cellular interactions and cytokine and chemokine production in the formation of LCH lesions.
Fig. 3: The origin of LCH cells.

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Acknowledgements

Many individuals have contributed to the success of the Nikolas Symposia and their importance in the story of Langerhans cell histiocytosis. First and foremost are Nikolas and his family. Nikolas has been an inspiration to all attendees at the symposia, facing his handicaps and suffering with courage and patience. Without the funding provided by the Kontoyannis family and cosponsors the Artemis Association on Histiocytosis and S. Palios (Diana Shipping), no symposium would have taken place. The late John Pritchard organized the first meeting and insisted on the attendance of non-clinical scientists at subsequent symposia. A more formal Steering Committee organized later meetings. Steering Committee members have included A. Abbas (University of California, San Francisco, USA), R. Arceci (deceased), J. Austyn, (University of Oxford, UK), P. Bienenstock (The Nikolas Symposia), A. Chu (Charing Cross Hospital, UK), G. D’Angio (deceased), I. Davis (The Nikolas Symposia), B. Favara (Hamilton, Montana, USA), L. Filipovitch (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA), H. Gadner (Children’s Cancer Research Institute, Vienna, Austria), J.-I. Henter (Karolinska University, Sweden), R. Jaffe (Children’s Hospital, Pittsburgh, USA), A. Kontoyannis (The Nikolas Symposia), P. Leenen (Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands), M. Malone (deceased), K. McClain (Baylor College of Medicine, Texas, USA), M. Merad (Mount Sinai Medical School, New York, USA), D. Moustaka (The Nikolas Symposia), K. Nichols (St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Tennessee, USA), H. Perry (University of Southampton, UK), J. Pritchard (deceased), C. Rodriguez-Galindo (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, USA), R. Steinman (deceased), J. Toughill (Histocytosis Association of America), C. Willman (University of New Mexico, USA) and J. Whitlock (University of Toronto, Canada).

E.L.D. is supported by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute Core Grant (P30 CA008748), the Frame Fund and the Joy Family West Foundation. B.J.R has been supported by the Histiocytosis Association and the Barr Program for Innovative Basic Cancer Research. A.V.H. is supported by Histiocytosis Nederland and 1000 Kaarsjes voor Juultje Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scientific Member of the Steering Committee, Nikolas Symposia, Piraeus, Greece

    Carl E. Allen, Peter C. L. Beverley, Matthew Collin, Eli L. Diamond, R. Maarten Egeler, Florent Ginhoux, Christopher Glass, Milen Minkov, Barrett J. Rollins & Astrid van Halteren

  2. Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Carl E. Allen

  3. TB Research Centre, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Peter C. L. Beverley

  4. Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Matthew Collin

  5. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Eli L. Diamond

  6. University of Leiden, Leiden, the Netherlands

    R. Maarten Egeler

  7. University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    R. Maarten Egeler

  8. University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Florent Ginhoux

  9. Singapore Immunology Network, A*Star Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Christopher Glass

  10. Sigmund Freud University, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Clinic Floridsdorf of the City of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Milen Minkov

  11. Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Barrett J. Rollins

  12. Leiden University Medical Center and Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the Netherlands

    Astrid van Halteren

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P.C.L.B. provided a first draft and all authors contributed to redrafting and editing of the paper. Authors are listed in alphabetical order.

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Correspondence to Peter C. L. Beverley.

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Allen, C.E., Beverley, P.C.L., Collin, M. et al. The coming of age of Langerhans cell histiocytosis. Nat Immunol 21, 1–7 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-019-0558-z

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