Studies help predict relapse in acute leukemia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two studies published on Wednesday may help doctors predict which patients have the most severe forms of leukemia and offer ways to tailor better treatments for them.

One team found genetic mutations that may help better separate the high-risk cases from those that are more easily treated, while another team looked at genetic material called microRNAs to predict who might need aggressive treatment as opposed to who only needs standard treatment.

Each method only covers a fraction of patients with acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, the researchers caution in the New England Journal of Medicine.

But they said their findings add to the toolbox of devices that doctors can use to decide what treatment to prescribe for patients with the blood cancer.

"It provides a new tool for a personalized approach to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer," said Dr. Guido Marcucci of Ohio State University's Comprehensive Cancer Center, who worked on one study.

AML is a relatively unusual cancer of immune system cells in the blood. About 13,300 new cases of AML are expected this year in the United States alone, with 8,200 deaths.

In about half of cases, the patient's leukemia cells have chromosome changes that help doctors determine whether standard therapy is all that is needed, or whether the patient needs a transplant of bone marrow stem cells, usually from a relative.

STEM-CELL TRANSPLANTS HARD