NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Lymphoid gene expression may be used to estimate the risk of therapy-related secondary brain tumors in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), Memphis-based researchers report in the February issue of Genes, Chromosomes and Cancer.
“Our findings suggest that person-to-person variability in gene expression may be used to assess genetic predisposition to long- term adverse effects of therapy,” senior author Dr. Mary V. Relling of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, told Reuters Health.
Dr. Relling and colleagues previously established that children with ALL and germ-line polymorphisms leading to low or absent thiopurine methyltransferase activity were at significantly greater risk of developing chemotherapy- and irradiation-induced secondary brain tumors.
To identify other candidate genes, the researchers compared the gene expression profiles in ALL blasts from 9 children who developed irradiation-associated brain tumors with those from 33 children who did not.
The investigators found that 70 probes sets differed between groups. By discriminant analysis, this number was reduced to 5 sets involving genes associated with neural growth and nuclear trafficking.
The researchers point out that “permutation analyses indicated a relatively small probability that distinguishing genes had been observed randomly.”
“Such tests may be used in the future to assist in individualizing cancer therapy, to avoid unacceptable adverse effects,” Dr. Relling concluded.
Source: Genes Chromosomes Cancer 2005;42:107-116. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Brain Neoplasms: Genetic Techniques: Investigative Techniques: Neoplasms: Neoplasms by Site: Nervous System Diseases: Nervous System Neoplasms: Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Acute: Central Nervous System Neoplasms: Gene Expression Profiling: Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment: DiseasesCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
