Tuesday 6 December 2016

Clonal hematopoiesis may help predict cancer patients at risk for fatal form of leukemia

Clonal hematopoiesis may help predict cancer patients at risk for fatal form of leukemia: Patients successfully treated for breast, colon and other cancers can go on to develop an often-fatal form of leukemia, sometimes years after completion of treatment, due to a genetic mutation leading to secondary malignancies known as therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (t-MNs).
Published on December 4, 2016 at 11:12 PM · No Comments
Patients successfully treated for breast, colon and other cancers can go on to develop an often-fatal form of leukemia, sometimes years after completion of treatment, due to a genetic mutation leading to secondary malignancies known as therapy-related myeloid neoplasms (t-MNs).
A study conducted by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center revealed pre-leukemic mutations, called clonal hematopoiesis, may predict whether patients develop t-MNs. Clonal hematopoiesis appears to function as a biomarker for patients who develop t-MNs, a leukemia recognized for its extremely poor prognosis. The study findings were published today in The Lancet Oncology and presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego.
"Therapy-related myeloid neoplasms occur in about 5 percent of cancer patients who were treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy," said Andy Futreal, Ph.D., chair ad interim of Genomic Medicine. "In most cases, it is fatal, and currently there is no way to predict who is at risk or prevent it.
Being able to detect t-MNs earlier is crucial given that the disease usually occurs three to eight years following chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.
"T-MNs are a problem that needs urgent attention," said Koichi Takashi, M.D., assistant professor of Leukemia and Genomic Medicine and a co-author on the Lancet Oncology paper. "Since many cancer patients are now living longer, t-MNs are an increasing concern for many cancer survivors."
Futreal's team studied 14 patients with t-MNs and found traces of pre-leukemic mutations or clonal hematopoiesis in 10. To determine if pre-leukemic mutations could reliably predict whether the patients would develop leukemia, the researchers compared prevalence of pre-leukemic mutations in the 14 patients with 54 patients who did not develop t-MNs after therapy.
"We found that prevalence of pre-leukemic mutations was significantly higher in patients who developed t-MNs (71 percent) versus those who did not (26 percent)," said Futreal. "We also validated these findings in a separate cohort of patients. Based on these findings, we believe pre-leukemic mutations may function as a new biomarker that would predict t-MNs development."
In the sample of 14 patients with t-MNs, the team looked at samples of bone marrow at the time of t-MNs development and blood samples obtained at the time of their primary cancer diagnosis.
"We found genetic mutations that are present in t-MNs leukemia samples actually could be found in blood samples obtained at the time of their original cancer diagnosis," said Takahashi. "Based on this finding, we believe the data suggest potential approaches of screening for clonal hematopoiesis in cancer patients that may identify patients at risk of developing t-MNs, although further studies are needed."
Source:
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

Monday 5 December 2016

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/omics-international-celebrating-open-access-week-and-working-in-building-open-in-action-300349532.html

LOS ANGELESOct. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- International Open Access Week - a global event in conjunction with this year's Open Access Week Advisory Committee, entering in its 9th international year. The event is going to be celebrated from October 24 to 30, 2016.The announced theme for this year is "Open in Action."
International Open Access Week is an opportunity for the academic and research community to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access and to share the information with their colleagues. Therefore, "Open Access Week" celebration will help to inspire huge participation in order to make Open Access a new norm in the research and scholarship.
"Open Access" has the power to transform the research and scientific information dissemination with the free, immediate, online access of the results along with the right to use and re-use the published results as needed. Numerous Research funding agencies, academic institutions, researchers and scientists, teachers, students, and general public are supporting the movement of Open Access which is gaining additional momentum every year.
This Open Access Week provides an opportunity for every members of the community to take action in keeping this momentum moving forward. So Get Enrolled. Taking part in Open Access Week can be a simple way to become a part of the future societal benefits.
OMICS International has been a follower of Open Access system since its inception. The lead taken by OMICS International in this regard has been a great success and we would like to ensure the continuation of the same.
With the following present Open Access week theme of "Open in Action" we request our distinguished Editors, Authors and reviewers to participate in this campaign and share their knowledge and experience with us. We request all the associated eminent personalities send us their suggestions, comments at https://www.omicsonline.org/contact.php
About OMICS International
OMICS Group with its 2000+ employees has been supported by 50000+ well-qualified scientists as editorial board members who serve on voluntary basis to disseminate healthcare and scientific information open access, and year on year this support is increasing progressively with which OMICS Group is able to grow from 10 peer reviewed journals in 2009 to 700 peer reviewed journals by 2016, and readers base increased to 30 million.
SOURCE OMICS International