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UAMS Study Finds Genetic Subtypes of Myeloma Hope for Targeted Treatments

A genetic analysis of more than 400 patients with multiple myeloma (http://myeloma.uams.edu/), a cancer of the bone marrow, identified seven subtypes of the disease that had a bearing on a patient'ss prognosis and offered the potential for targeted treatments, reported a team of researchers from the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy (MIRT - http://myeloma.uams.edu/) in the September issue of the journal Blood.



The researchers from the Myeloma Institute, located on the campus of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS - http://www.uams.edu), used gene expression profiling to analyze bone marrow plasma cells from 414 newly diagnosed myeloma patients. Of the seven genetic disease subtypes identified, four were associated with better patient outcomes following high-dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplantation.



An article on the study, The molecular classification of multiple myeloma, is published in the Sept. 15, 2006, issue of Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology. The article is available online at http://www.bloodjournal.org/.



These results are likely to have a profound influence on the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of multiple myeloma, said John D. Shaughnessy Jr., Ph.D., director of the Lambert Laboratory (http://lambertlab.uams.edu/)in the MIRT. While on the surface most myelomas look alike, the power of modern molecular techniques has allowed us to identify the specific genetic switches that are altered in each disease subtype and these insights may offer entry points for new tailored therapeutic options.



The study noted that although high-dose therapy improved the prognosis for patients with multiple myeloma, individual patients's survival remains variable and unable to be accurately predicted. The researchers said the relationship between the disease subtypes and survival rates should lead to better risk stratification.



Fenghuang Zhan, M.D., Ph.D.,is the lead author of the article. Together with Shaughnessy, other authors of the article from MIRT and UAMS were:



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Yongsheng Huang, computer scientist research associate,MIRT

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Simona Colla, Ph.D., post doctoral fellow, MIRT

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James P. Stewart, Ph.D., post doctoral fellow, MIRT

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Inchiro Hanamura, M.D., Ph.D., post doctoral fellow, MIRT

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Sushil Gupta, Ph.D., post doctoral fellow, MIRT

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Joshua Epstein, D.Sc., professor of medicine

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Shmuel Yaccoby, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine and physiology

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Jeffrey Sawyer, Ph.D., professor of pathology

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Elias Anaissie, M.D., professor of medicine

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Klaus Hollmig, M.D., assistant professor of medicine

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Mauricio Pineda-Roman, M.D., assistant professor of medicine

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Guido Tricot, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and pathology

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Frits van Rhee, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine

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Ronald Walker, M.D., assistant professor of radiology

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Maurizio Zangari, M.D., associate professor of medicine

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Bart Barlogie, M.D., Ph.D., director of the MIRT and a professor of medicine and pathology



About the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy:



The Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy (http://myeloma.uams.edu/) is the world'ss largest treatment center for multiple myeloma. The Myeloma Institute is part of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (http://www.uams.edu), Arkansas'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. For more information, visit www.uams.edu.



Contact:

Andrea Peel

Myeloma Institute for Research and TherapyUniversity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

501-686-8996

http://www.myeloma.uams.eduhttp://www.uams.edu

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