Acute myeloid leukaemia ‘is actually at least 11 different diseases’

A landmark study has offered evidence that the cancer currently known as acute myeloid leukaemia actually comprises of at least 11 distinct conditions.

Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have worked with international collaborators to assess 1,540 patients with acute myeloid leukaemia who were enrolled in clinical trials, analysing more than 100 genes known to cause leukaemia.

The aim was to identify common genetic themes behind the development of the disease. However, the results divided the patients into at least 11 major groups, each with different profiles of genetic changes and distinctive clinical features.

Common themes were seen between the groups, but most patients had a unique combination of genetic changes driving their leukaemia. This helps to explain why there is such a wide variation in survival rates between different patients.

By better understanding the genetic origins of each patient's leukaemia, it could be much easier to predict whether these individuals can be cured with current treatments. The knowledge could also inform clinical trial design.

Dr Peter Campbell, co-leader of the study from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: "These genetic differences can explain so much of why one of those patients will be cured, while the other will not, despite receiving the exact same treatment."