Diagnostic Test for Acute Myeloid Leukemia Implemented into Clinical Practice

A diagnostic test developed for stratification of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is now available for clinicians.

The new test is based on the discovery that mutations in a nucleophosmin (NPM1) gene are characteristic of 30-40% of the cases of AML. NPM1 is a protein involved in regulation of ribosome biogenesis, cell division, cell death, and other important cellular processes.

Xenomics (New York, NY, USA), a molecular diagnostics company that focuses on the development of DNA-based tests using Transrenal DNA (Tr-DNA), developed the diagnostic test, which detects all 45 known mutations of NPM1 in a single reaction. The results will help physicians with prognosis, therapy, and monitoring of the disease. The test will also enable stratification of AML patients for anti-AML drug clinical trials.

Xenomics' technology uses safe and simple urine collection and can be applied to a broad range of applications, including prenatal testing, tumor detection and monitoring, tissue transplantation, infectious disease detection, genetic testing for forensic identity determination, drug development, and research to counter bioterrorism.

The test has been implemented at BRT Laboratories Inc. (Baltimore, MD, USA). We are glad to work with Xenomics on AML diagnostics and to add this test to our repertoire of genetic tests, commented Antonette Allen, clinical service manager of BRT Laboratories. We believe that the NPM1 diagnostic test will not only help hematologists in the treatment of the disease but also in developing a test for monitoring the disease and patient response to anti-tumor therapy.


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Xenomics
BRT Laboratories