Scientists from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow found a blood test could help predict blood cancer risk in the future.
The research is published in the journal Nature Medicine and was conducted by Dr. Tamir Chandra et al.
Leukemia is often the result of the disruption of the fine balance in blood cell production where new cells are manufactured and old blood cells die.
As we age, mutations in blood stem cells can mean that the altered cells can have a growth benefit over other blood cells and outnumber them in what is referred to as a fitness advantage.
In the study, the team examined how changes in fitness advantage that occur in blood production might provide clues to the risk of developing leukemia depending on the type of mutation that occurs.
They measured changes in the blood samples of 83 older individuals, taken every three years over a 12-year period.
Using the combined knowledge of mathematicians, biologists and genome scientists, they found what these changes mean for our risk of developing leukemia as people grow older.
They found that specific mutations give distinct fitness advantages to stem cells measured in people without leukemia—this can then be used to forecast how quickly the mutated cells will grow, which determines leukemia risk.
The team says that further research is needed to validate these results in a larger population due to the limited sample size in the current study.
In knowing a person’s risk of developing leukemia, doctors can schedule shorter gaps between appointments for those most likely to develop the disease and provide early treatment, which is more likely to be successful.
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