GSDMC and leukemia: The 8q24 SNP associated with white blood cell counts (rs1991866) is located near GSDMC. A related gene on chromosome 17 (GSDMB) is found within the leukemia-associated haplotype block containing IKZF3. These genes are part of a family of genes involved in pyroptosis, or inflammatory programmed necrosis, which is a recently identified pathway involved in cell proliferation and differentiation, inflammatory remodeling, and cancer-related pathways33.