Posted on 03/08/2023 9:29:23 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Researchers show the benefits of screening adult patients in remission from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) for residual disease before receiving a bone marrow transplant.
About 20,000 adults in the United States are diagnosed each year with AML, a deadly blood cancer, and about one in three live past five years. A bone marrow transplant, which replaces unhealthy blood-forming cells with healthy cells from a donor, often improves these chances. However, research has shown that lingering traces of leukemia can make a transplant less effective.
After screening adults with variants commonly associated with AML, researchers showed that the two most common mutations in AML—NPM1 and FLT3-ITD—could be used to track residual leukemia. Among 822 adults with these variants detectable at initial diagnosis, 142 adults—about 1 in 6—were found to still have residual traces of these mutations after therapy despite being classified as in remission.
The researchers found the outcomes for these patients striking. Nearly 70% of patients with the lingering NPM1 and FLT3-ITD mutations relapsed and just 39% survived after three years. In comparison only 21% of adults without this evidence of trace leukemia relapsed after three years and 63% survived.
Hourigan said: "For that one person out of six, the transplant often isn't going to be enough. Other options might include also enrolling in a clinical research trial or considering additional or different therapies."
In their analysis, the researchers also observed that adults with persistent mutations, but who were younger than age 60 and received higher doses of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy as part of their transplant preparation, were more likely to remain cancer free after three years than those receiving lower doses.
They also found that adults who didn't receive stronger treatment before the transplant did better when this lower-dose therapy included a chemotherapy drug melphalan.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
I’m a cancer survivor, having had a bone marrow transplant on November 26, 1991, for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).
The whole treatment was brutal. Six days of full body radiation followed by three days of full body chemotherapy.
Only by the grace of God, and many,many prayers am I still here!
God has granted you a great many years of life, from such a terrible condition.
Continue to glorify Him in all you are, and do.
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