UAMS Myeloma Researchers on Team Analyzing Disease's Genetic Fingerprints -- Cancer Cell Publishes Work That Could Lead to New Treatments

Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) are part of a team that has identified that multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood, could actually be several different diseases at the cellular level with a potential for genetically targeted treatments that could extend to other forms of cancer. The research is published in the April 2006 issue of journal Cancer Cell.

Little Rock, AR (PRWEB) April 11, 2006 -- Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS -- http://www.uams.edu) are part of a team that has identified that multiple myeloma (http://myeloma.uams.edu), a cancer of the blood, could actually be several different diseases at the cellular level with a potential for genetically targeted treatments that could extend to other forms of cancer.

The research is published in the April 2006 issue of journal Cancer Cell. The article, "Tracking genome changes during cancer initiation, progression and treatment sheds light on multiple myeloma," is now available online at http://www.cancercell.org/.

UAMS myeloma researcher John D. Shaughnessy Jr., Ph.D., was one of three lead authors of the study, along with Ron A. DePinho, M.D., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School, and Cameron Brennan, M.D., of Memorial Sloane-Kettering Cancer Center. Shaughnessy is director of the Lambert Laboratory of Myeloma Genetics in the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy (http://myeloma.uams.edu), which is part of the Arkansas Cancer Research Center at UAMS (http://www.acrc.uams.edu), and an associate professor in the UAMS College of Medicine (http://www.uams.edu/com).

"The new research, based on analysis of myeloma cells, is a significant step in understanding the genetic basis of myeloma development and progression," Shaughnessy said. "The study suggests that myeloma consists of at least seven different genetic subtypes of disease," he said.

"This represents a watershed in myeloma research since multiple myeloma's genetic complexity had previously kept us from determining if it was actually more than one disease," Shaughnessy said. "Now we can begin to better separate patients by the effect myeloma is having on them at the genetic level and develop targeted treatments based on that knowledge.

"Development of so-called targeted therapies, aimed at specific genetic mutations and biochemical pathways affected within cancer cells is being utilized now in some cancers like chronic myelogenous leukemia and is a hope for all cancers."

Several of the genes identified in the study also are associated with unrelated cancers, including pancreatic, lung, breast and ovarian cancer.

About the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy:

The MIRT (http://myeloma.uams.edu) continues to be at the forefront of myeloma research with this latest publication. Studies of myeloma treatment methods, led by Bart Barlogie, M.D., Ph.D., director of the MIRT, were published in the April issue of Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology as well as the March 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Barlogie's work was recognized in March when the organization responsible for publishing the annual America's Top Doctors named him a national physician of the year. The selection was based on nominations submitted by physicians profiled in America's Top Doctors.

Multiple myeloma (http://myeloma.uams.edu) is a type of cancer that involves plasma cells -- white blood cells that produce antibodies. It is the second most common cancer of the blood.

When plasma cells become cancerous, they reproduce uncontrollably and crowd out healthy red and white blood cells, preventing them from fighting infection and carrying oxygen throughout the body. Bone destruction is a common manifestation of myeloma. The malignant cells also produce a type of protein that can cause kidney failure.

Research at the MIRT has more than doubled the annual survival rate of a myeloma patient upon diagnosis from three years to seven years and beyond.

About the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS):

UAMS is the state's only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, five centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has about 2,320 students and 690 medical residents. It is one of the state's largest public employers with almost 9,000 employees, including nearly 1,000 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children's Hospital and the VA Medical Center. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $4.3 billion a year.

Contact:
Andrea Peel, 501-686-8996
Wireless Phone, 501-351-7903
http://www.uams.edu | http://myeloma.uams.edu

###

Press Contact: Shane Tripcony
Company Name: UAMS
Email: email protected from spam bots
Phone: 501-686-8996
Website: http://myeloma.uams.edu

¶ 7:07 PM