|  |  |  | | | | MANCHESTER SCIENTISTS PILOT NEW LEUKAEMIA TEST | | | | |
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Release Date: 4th September 2002
A new test could help to revolutionise the way leukaemia patients are treated by enabling doctors to fine tune treatment to the needs of each individual patient. The test could help doctors across the country predict whether a patient with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is likely to relapse up to six months before it actually happens.
With a grant of £275,000 from the Leukaemia Research Fund (LRF), scientists from Manchester Royal Infirmary will be piloting the test for adults with this form of leukaemia. They will use the latest technology called RT- PCR (reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction) to measure the residual cancer cells - known as minimum residual disease - that remain after a patient’s treatment.
All leukaemia patients will have some residual leukaemia cells in their blood that remain after treatment. The higher the level of residual disease the more likely a patient is to relapse. Until now, the techniques available have not been sensitive enough to accurately measure the levels of residual leukaemia cells.
“We believe that measuring residual disease enables us to predict whether a patient with AML will relapse - up to six months before it happens,” says Professor John Yin from the Manchester Royal Infirmary.
“This would allow doctors to intervene at an earlier stage with more or less aggressive therapy based on the level of residual disease present in the blood and bone marrow,” he adds.
Once the genetic fingerprint of a leukaemia cell has been identified, the residual cells can be quickly and accurately tested using the new RT-PCR technology. The slower these malignant cells disappear after treatment the more chance that relapse will occur.
Thanks to a grant of £90,000 from the LRF last year, Professor Yin and his team have successfully identified genetic markers that allow doctors to distinguish between the acute myeloid leukaemia cells and healthy cells.
One patient who understands the importance of this research is leukaemia patient Janet Hodgett from Poynton.
The 43 year-old was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia two years ago and has been treated by Professor Yin and his team. “It is only when you are faced with this disease that you realise how important research is to improving treatment,” she says.
After a series of drug treatments aimed at killing the cancer cells, she was given a bone marrow transplant in January 2001 using the stem cells from her older brother Peter Hodgett. She is currently in remission from leukaemia.
“It is devastating to hear that you have leukaemia. I hope this test will help to save the lives of many AML patients who otherwise may have relapsed,” she adds.
Professor Yin is now set to test for residual disease in more than 1,000 AML patients who will be treated in a national Medical Research Council Trial. The study will determine whether the test should become a standard part of treatment for all patients with AML.
Dr David Grant, Scientific Director of the Leukaemia Research Fund, said: “I am sure this test will prove to be a major weapon in the battle against leukaemia. What makes this work even more exciting is that it could potentially be applied to other forms of leukaemia, lymphoma, and related cancers of the blood, which still claim the lives of thousands of people each year.”
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