New data from a next-generation-sequencing study of 15 patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) has revealed that a subset of patients with clearance of the founding AML clone after induction chemotherapy also develop expansion of a genetically unrelated population of clones. Non-leukaemic, haematopoietic cells harbouring the mutations observed in these newly-expanded populations were detectable at very low levels prior to induction therapy, suggesting that the presence of certain mutations in haematopoietic cells confers a selective survival advantage, and increased proliferation after induction chemotherapy.
References
Wong, T. N. et al. Rapid expansion of pre-existing non-leukemic hematopoietic clones frequently follows induction therapy for de novo AML. Blood 10.1182/blood-2015-10-677021.
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Sidaway, P. Specific clones proliferate after induction therapy. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 13, 64 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2015.227
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2015.227