Research may boost leukaemia treatment

TREATMENT of children with leukaemia could be improved following research in Yorkshire.

Researchers from Sheffield University are investigating how a child's genetic code can affect their response to drugs for the condition. The aim is to tailor treatment for patients and avoid unnecessary side-effects from chemotherapy.

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia affects around 450 children a year in the UK. It is highly aggressive and fatal without effective treatment.

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The main treatment involves chemotherapy using toxic drugs. Once a child has achieved remission they must undergo further therapy for at least two years with lower doses of the drugs.

Lynne Lennard, from the university's clinical pharmacology unit, is studying how a child's genetic code determines how they react to one key drug.

She said that owing to the action of an enzyme in the liver, some children digested it very quickly which meant they did not receive enough. In others it worked less quickly, with children receiving too much and suffering side-effects.

The aim was to measure the enzyme in each child so they could be given the right dose of the drug to increase its effectiveness and reduce its toxicity.

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She was developing a genetic test for the enzyme that could be used to tell doctors exactly how much of the drug they should give to each child.

David Grant, scientific director at the blood charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research which has awarded funding of 77,000 for the work, said it had 2.9m invested in blood cancer research in Sheffield which had a world-class reputation in the field of childhood leukaemia.