CINCINNATI, Ohio (Ivanhoe Newswire) – Acute myelogenous leukemia, or AML, is the most common blood and bone marrow cancer in adults. About 20,000 Americans will be diagnosed with AML this year, and 11,000 will die from it. Now, researchers at the University of Cincinnati are leading a trial designed to personalize treatment for this deadly form of cancer.
Acute myelogenous leukemia often strikes people in their golden years, but only one in 10 patients over the age of 60 will still be alive five years after diagnosis. It’s a cancer that progresses very rapidly.
“Although it has one name there are probably 15, 20 different types of AML. Before, when people were diagnosed with AML, they would come in and everybody would be treated the same way,” explains University of Cincinnati Cancer Center hematologist, John Byrd, MD.
Usually with toxic chemotherapy and pills. Now, Dr. Byrd and his colleagues are looking at personalized treatments for AML. Researchers will use genetic sequencing to identify mutations, or what drives each patient’s disease, and then match treatments to the patient.
Dr. Byrd adds, “Once a medicine gets approved in one indication, it can potentially be applied to a lot of other types of cancers that have that same mutation, but might be in a different part of the body.”
The researchers say the beat AML trial is not really one trial but multiple treatments at the same time to see what works and what doesn’t work for patients. Possibly marking the first significant changes in AML treatment in decades.
The University of Cincinnati is one of 16 sites nationally enrolling patients. While traditional clinical trials usually study one drug, or one combination of drugs – this is considered a master trial under the guidance of the FDA – since it is testing multiple therapies in multiple sites at the same time.
Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Producer; Kirk Manson, Videographer; Roque Correa, Editor.
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Sources:
https://www.lls.org/bringing-precision-medicine-aml-patients
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
RESEARCH SUMMARY
TOPIC: BEAT AML: PERSONALIZED TREATMENT FOR DEADLY BLOOD AND BONE MARROW CANCER
REPORT: MB #5203
BACKGROUND: Cancer starts when cells in a part of the body begin to grow out of control. There are many kinds of cancer. Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer. Acute myeloid leukemia, or AML starts in the bone marrow (the soft inner part of certain bones, where new blood cells are made), but most often it quickly moves into the blood, as well. It can sometimes spread to other parts of the body including the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), and testicles. This year in the U.S., there will be about 20,000 new cases of AML and about 11,000 will die from it.
(Sources: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/acute-myeloid-leukemia/about/what-is-aml.html
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/acute-myeloid-leukemia/about/key-statistics.html)
DIAGNOSING: General signs and symptoms of the early stages of acute myelogenous leukemia may mimic those of the flu or other common diseases. Signs and symptoms of acute myelogenous leukemia include: fever, bone pain, lethargy and fatigue, shortness of breath, pale skin, frequent infections, easy bruising, and/or unusual bleeding. If you have signs or symptoms of acute myelogenous leukemia, your doctor may recommend that you undergo diagnostic tests, including: blood tests, bone marrow tests, lumbar puncture, and/or testing your cancer cells in the lab.
NEW TECHNOLOGY: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is leading this approach to improve cancer treatment with the Beat AML Master Trials. This Trial will take place at multiple academic research institutions and involve many researchers, drug companies, a company that provides genetic analysis, and a clinical research organization. LLS’s goal is to speed up approval and increase effectiveness of treatments for patients diagnosed with AML by testing a number of investigational drugs in development. A typical clinical trial only studies one drug or one combination of drugs. This trial will begin with four different treatments, each being tested in one of several arms of the trial based on a particular genetic mutation. In doing so, the trial is designed to understand multiple drugs and their effectiveness in treating patients diagnosed with AML.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:
Tim Tedeschi
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