On its own, this information could help doctors identify patients who require aggressive treatment, Pollack said. What's more, some of the genes that are activated differently between the two groups were not previously known to be involved in AML. Studying these genes and their proteins could lead to new treatments for the disease, Pollack said.
The Stanford researchers took the study a step further. Once the cancers were divided into the two groups, they whittled the total number of genes to the 133 that showed the most difference in activation between the groups. This handful of genes effectively discriminates between patients who have the most and the least aggressive cancers, and is a more manageable number for screening in a doctor's office.
This study joins a growing body of research relying on microarray analysis to distinguish between patients with otherwise similar cancers. The technique has been successful in breast, lung and liver tumors at helping doctors understand the disease and to identify the most appropriate treatments.
"This kind of study can benefit patients in the short term, especially in matching treatments to individuals," Pollack said. That's in contrast to developing new drugs, a process that can take up to 15 years to reach patients. In order for gene activity to become widely used for choosing treatments, Pollack said the results first must be independently replicated and researchers must find the smallest number of genes that can still discriminate between treatment groups.
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Contact: Amy Adams
amyadams@stanford.edu
650-723-3900
Stanford University Medical Center
14-Apr-2004