Genomic applications in the clinic: use in treatment paradigm of acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract

In recent years, research in genomics has resulted in the rapid uncovering of the molecular pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The identification of the genetic determinants of response to standard—but also to experimental—treatment is increasingly used for patient counseling, to guide clinical decision making, and for resource-efficient care provision at diagnosis, during consolidation treatment and follow-up, and after relapse. Gene mutations now allow us to explore the enormous diversity among cytogenetically defined subsets of AML, in particular the large subset of cytogenetically normal AML. Nonetheless, there are several challenges in evaluating the prognostic value of a specific mutation in the concert of the various concurrent mutations and determining the relative prognostic value of the genetic profile during the disease course. In particular, changes in the genetic profile in relapse compared with that at diagnosis will increasingly affect the treatment strategy at relapse, but also will give us the possibility of learning which treatment strategy during frontline therapy is best to prevent them.