Leukemia: A blood test can help identify people at high risk of developing leukemia

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LONDON: Scientists can now identify people at high risk of developing leukemia nearly five years before the patient develops cancer using a blood test to track certain changes in DNA code, which can reveal the roots of the disease. disease in healthy people.

The results showed that people in the process of developing acute myeloid leukemia (AML) – a cancer of the blood affecting the bone marrow and stopping the production of normal blood cells – had a greater number of mutations in the genes badociated with bone marrow. disease and mutations were often present in a larger fraction of their blood cells.

"Acute myeloid leukemia often occurs very suddenly in patients, so we were surprised to discover that its origins are usually detectable more than five years before the disease develops," says Grace Collord, Wellcome Sanger Institute.

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The results showed that many of the people who developed cancer had particular genetic changes that distinguished them from those who did not.

These changes could be used collectively to develop an AML risk predictive test. The results of specific blood tests were also subtly different in those who later developed the disease.

"Our study provides for the first time evidence that we can identify people at risk of developing LMA for many years before they actually develop this potentially life-threatening disease," said George Vbadiliou of Wellcome Sanger Institute.

"We hope to build on these results to develop robust screening tests to identify people at risk and direct research toward prevention or stopping progression to AML," Vbadiliou added.