Researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research have found a dual genetic test is more accurate than the traditional approach in identifying multiple myeloma patients who may be at an elevated risk of a relapse.
The Britain-based research team published its findings in the journal Blood, revealing that combining traditional DNA profiling with RNA gene expression testing “significantly improves risk prediction." The approach can help doctors identify high-risk multiple myeloma patients who may relapse within 18 months of treatment, according to the research.
Multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, typically affects people over 75, with about 33,000 people affected in the U.K.
The condition, while typically not curable, is often experienced through periods of remission and stability. But relapses are fairly common, and patients need to be monitored.
The research team wanted to find a more accurate testing method to foresee which patients may relapse at higher rates. The researchers looked at data from across 135 patients who took part in the so-called Myeloma XI study, all of whom had the same treatment and had detailed genetic testing.
They tracked these patients for more than seven years and found 18.5% of patients relapsed within 18 months after a stem cell transplant.
“The results showed that 84% of these early relapses could have been predicted by using two types of genetic tests together,” the researchers found, while just two patients “had a truly unexpected early relapse.”
The traditional method for seeking out relapse risk is done via DNA profiling that looks for specific genetic changes in cancer cells that are typically linked to worse outcomes.
The gene expression profiling test, meanwhile, checks how active certain genes are and can spot high-risk patients that other tests might miss.
“Our findings show that RNA-based testing can uncover hidden risks in multiple myeloma that DNA tests alone miss,” study leader Professor Martin Kaiser, professor in molecular hematology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and consultant hematologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said in a statement.
“By combining DNA profiling with RNA-based testing, we could change how we diagnose and treat the disease, allowing us to personalise care and intervene earlier for patients at greatest risk," Kaiser added.