New Study By St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital Highlights The Racial Disparities In Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Research And Treatment
St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital– known for leading the fight against the most trying childhood diseases and cancers– has published a new study analyzing the link between genetic ancestry and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia– also known as ALL– is the most common form of leukemia in adolescents.
This form of leukemia affects about three thousand children in the United States each year and occurs when bone marrow begins producing a substantial amount of immature lymphoblasts.
These lymphoblasts eventually replace normal cells in the bone marrow and prevent the creation of healthy blood cells.
While the cure rates of ALL cases in children are high, racial disparities in the prevalence of this cancer and the healthcare treatment that follows do exist.
Despite this, genetic research has been limited in that it does not often include people of diverse genetic backgrounds.
The team of researchers at St. Judes aimed to gain much-needed insight into these understudied populations.
The study focused on a diverse group of over two thousand and four hundred children with ALL. The children were selected from North America, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Additionally, they were of European, Native American, African, South Asian, and East Asian descent.
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The researchers performed RNA-sequencing to characterize each child’s ALL molecular subtype and genetic ancestry.
Next, according to the study, “The associations of genetic ancestries with ALL molecular subtypes and treatment outcomes were then evaluated.”
The study found that ALL molecular subtypes prognosis is indeed associated with genetic ancestry. East Asian origin was associated with molecular subtypes that result in a “good” prognosis. On the other hand, Native American ancestry was associated with molecular subtypes that point to more aggressive ALL cases.
Jun J. Yang, a corresponding author on the study, discussed why understanding diversity is critical to patient care.
“As a field, we really need to put diversity front and center in our research going forward. We need to stop assuming that we can develop therapies which focus on white children and that these therapies can just be extrapolated to others,” Yang said.
“The world is becoming increasingly diverse, and so are children with cancer. As we look to the next generation of therapies for ALL, it’s going to be essential that we consider the diversity of this cancer on a global scale,” Yang continued.
Through these findings, Shawn Lee– the study’s first author– believes that new treatment approaches are necessary for equitable healthcare.
“In terms of ALL biology, there are actually a lot of differences across ancestries which have an impact on survival and treatment outcomes. With this information, we can help individualize treatment according to biology and even consider risk stratification according to ancestry. This can assist in planning biology-driven treatment protocols,” Lee said.
To read the complete scientific study, visit the link here.
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