Kids suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may respond differently to treatment depending on their genes, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

 

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL is the most common type of cancer in children affecting about one in 30,000 each year. It is a cancer of the white blood cells, the cells in the body, which normally fight infections. Current drugs for the disease have put the cure rates close to 80 percent. Even so, only 30 percent of children whose cancers return will live for five more years. However, there are kids whose cancer doesn’t respond to treatment.

 

For the study Mary V. Relling, who chairs the pharmaceutical department at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and colleagues analyzed genetic variations in 487 kids with ALL.

 

The researchers found 102 common gene variations called SNPs, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, which seemed to be involved in response to leukemia treatment. Furthermore, 21 of these variations were linked to relapse, while another 21 were associated with a strong, early response to treatment.

 

The study also found that 5 SNPs were located in the Il15 gene, which makes a protein called interleukin 15 that causes leukemia cells to multiply. Previous studies have noted that IL15 protects tumors from chemotherapy drugs.

 

Dr. Relling said, “some of the gene variation is likely to cause differences among patients in how quickly their bodies rid themselves of the chemotherapy, and some of the variations are likely to penetrate through to the leukemia cells and have an influence on the inherent sensitivity of the leukemia cells to chemotherapy.”