Researchers may have possibly found every gene mutation that is associated with the dangerous blood cancer acute myeloid leukemia, or AML. An article from HealthDay published in
US News has reviewed the findings from a study found in the
New England Journal of Medicine. In the study, the researchers took leukemia cells and normal cells from each of the 200 AML patients included in this study.
This allowed them to pick out mutations that were only found in the cancer cells and not in the normal cells. From the findings, the researchers hope that they can develop better treatments and diagnosis procedures for the disease. They now have an idea of how severe patients’ diseases are and what type of treatment method they should put them through. Hopefully, this information will be able to fight this disease that affects about 15000 Americans per year with only 5000 surviving.
According to the U.S. News & World Report, doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City recently found certain combinations of gene mutations in patients with acute myeloid leukemia which indicated whether patients had a high, intermediate or low risk of recovery or remission. This type of genetic analysis is already used in many cancer treatment facilities to determine the likelihood of recovery or the level of treatment a patient needs. However, only a few gene mutation combinations were previously known, leaving 60% of patients uselessly classified as in between high and low risk. This study used to latest gene sequencing technology to study the DNA of about 500 patients using readily available tissue samples from a previous study. The researchers looked for and found links between certain gene mutations and the patients’ response to higher or lower drug treatments. This discovery has contributed to the advancement of the use of genetic analysis in cancer treatment. This study will help oncologists better determine the level of treatment their patients require for recovery based on their individual needs.
