SALT LAKE CITY - Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer; it also occurs in adults. Now researchers working with zebrafish at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have identified previously undiscovered high-risk genetic features in T-cell acute lymphocytic 白血病 (T-ALL), according to an article published online today in the cancer research journal 致癌基因. When compared to samples from human patients with T-ALL, these genetic characteristics allowed scientists to predict which patients may have more aggressive forms of the disease that either recur after remission or do not respond to treatment.
虽然有几个亚型, in all 白血病s the body overproduces certain blood cells that have not matured properly. 在这项研究中, the researchers investigated a particular type of 白血病 that results from genetic mutations in T-cells, a type of white blood cell found in both humans and zebrafish.
Using a technique called serial transplantation, the research team studied T-ALL in zebrafish and selected cancer cells from those in which the disease advanced more rapidly for further testing. This method allowed the research team to zero in on genes associated with T-ALL’s most aggressive forms. They then compared these genetic features to samples from human patients whose clinical outcomes with T-ALL are known.
“We can cure 80% of the children who come to us with 白血病, but there are 20% we cannot cure. Sometime the cures come at a high cost to patients in immediate and delayed side effects from chemotherapy,尼古拉斯·特里德说, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah (U of U) School of Medicine, HCI调查员, 也是这篇文章的资深作者. “These results may lead to tests that can show which children with the disease need the strongest chemotherapy to overcome their cancer. Children with less aggressive forms of 白血病 can be cured with milder chemotherapy that produces fewer side effects, both during treatment and long after treatment is complete.”
金布尔·弗雷泽，m.s.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at the U of U and a member of the Trede Lab, 是文章的共同资深作者吗. “One of the genes identified in the study had not previously been recognized as important in T-ALL,弗雷泽说。. “另一个基因, associated with patients whose outcomes were least favorable, has not received enough research attention to even have an official name. It only has an ‘address’ that tells its location on a specific chromosome.”
The researchers stress that their results are still preliminary. They plan further laboratory studies to bolster the case that this unnamed gene with the address C7orf60 is important in the development of T-ALL. Additional zebrafish experiments that focus on this gene could be designed to amplify its effects and confirm its contribution to creating more, 或更, 白血病. 最后, the research could lead to a test that would allow doctors to determine the best course of treatment for an individual 白血病 patient by analyzing a blood sample.
Both Trede and Frazer credit the article’s first-listed author, Lynnie Rudner, with much of the work leading to the published results. Rudner is the recipient of 美国医学协会 (AMA) Foundation’s Seed Grant, one of only 38 individuals nationwide who received a seed grant in 2010, 和一个学生在大学的M.D./Ph.D. program, which produces graduates qualified in both clinical practice and laboratory research. Other co-authors include researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, 麻萨诸塞州, 德克萨斯大学布朗斯维尔分校, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital Boston, 和圣. Jude Children’s 研究 Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
This work was supported by funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & 人类发展, 美国医学协会, 亨斯迈癌症基金会, the Children’s Health 研究 Center at the University of Utah, and Huntsman Cancer Institute core facilities.
The mission of Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at The University of Utah is to understand cancer from its beginnings, to use that knowledge in the creation and improvement of cancer treatments, 减轻癌症患者的痛苦, 并大发娱乐提供有关癌症风险的教育, 预防, 和护理. HCI is a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, which means that it meets the highest national standards for cancer care and research and receives support for its scientific endeavors. HCI is also a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) a not-for-profit alliance of the world’s leading cancer centers, which is dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of care provided to patients with cancer. For more information about HCI, please visit www.huntsmancancer.org