Researchers believe they have identified a genetic mutation in certain patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) which makes them unlikely to respond to current treatment.
According to research published in the November 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers sequenced the genome of a patient who died of AML, then compared that genome to those of 281 other patients, and found that over 20% of them shared this mutation, at a gene known as DNMT3A, allowing researchers to closely link it with failure of standard treatment, which involves chemotherapy.
The discovery could dramatically change the treatment approach for specified AML patients. According to one of the study's authors, the best approach for these patients could be bypassing standard chemotherapy and going straight into high-dose chemotherapy followed by bone marrow transplantation.
CANCER TYPE(S)
Acute myeloid leukemia
TREATMENT TYPE(S)
Chemotherapy, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Source
Ley TJ et al. "DNMT3A Mutations in Acute Myeloid Leukemia." N Engl J Med. November 10, 2010.
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