Inflammation Linked to Inferior Outcomes in Leukemia

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 18, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A unique inflammation signature, in which atypical B cells are identified, is associated with worse outcomes in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a study published online Jan. 11 in Nature Cancer.

Audrey Lasry, Ph.D., from the New York University School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues examined the bone marrow immune microenvironment in adult and pediatric patients with AML.

The researchers characterized unique inflammation signatures in a subset of AML patients, which were associated with worse outcomes. Atypical B cells were identified, which were enriched in patients with high-inflammation AML, and an increase in CD8⁺GZMK⁺ and regulatory T cells was also seen, accompanied by a decrease in T-cell clonal expansion. An inflammation-associated gene score (iScore) that associates with poor survival outcomes was identified for AML patients. For patients with AML, the addition of the iScore refines current risk stratifications and may enable identification of patients needing more aggressive treatment.

"These study findings suggest that monitoring inflammation in patients with AML and possibly lowering inflammation levels with drug therapy should be considered as part of treatment for the disease," a coauthor said in a statement.

Several authors are named on a patent application for the iScore patient risk stratification.

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