SALT LAKE CITY –Almost 6,000 new cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, are expected to be diagnosed this year in the United States. The blood cancer can affect both children and adults. Scientists have found up to 30 percent of adult ALL patients have what’s called a Philadelphia chromosome, where two segments of chromosomes have aberrantly fused together. (The fusion chromosome is much less common in children.) Adult ALL patients exposed to standard treatments often see high relapse rates, and treatment-related deaths remain high. But researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have discovered new science, published this week in the journal Leukemia, that could provide better therapeutic options for patients.
