Leukemia Research Foundation News

Inflammation levels tied to severity of AML

A new study revealed that severe inflammation weakens the body’s ability to kill cancerous cells in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Researchers at NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center conducted human experiments in adult and child patients to measure inflammation levels. It was revealed that increasing levels of inflammation changed the makeup of immune cells needed to fight the disease.

The measured patient “iScores” were correlated to survival rates, with those having the lowest iScores typically surviving the longest. The new iScore system can be added to existing tools for measuring AML severity and used by physicians and patients when determining 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,” says study senior investigator Iannis Aifantis, PhD.

Read the full article here.

Iannis Aifantis, PhD, received a Leukemia Research Foundation new investigator research grant in 2003.

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