The Era of Personalized Therapy Lies Ahead for Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
The Era of Personalized Therapy Lies Ahead for Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
- Professor Sung-Soo Yoon's team participates in the world-renowned International Cancer Genome Consortium and embarks on joint research with the TCGA on acute myeloid leukemia.
- Korea's genomic medicine wins global recognition for advanced research and high technical prowess.
- Such global research collaboration is expected to expedite the emergence of personalized medicine for blood cancers in Korea.
The research team led by professor Sung-Soo Yoon, Dept. of Internal Medicine, SNU Hospital, agreed to join the Blood Cancer Group of the ICGC (International Cancer Genome Consortium), highly acclaimed for world-renowned authority, thereby collaborating on the U.S.-led research by the TCGA (Cancer Genome Atlas) on acute myeloid leukemia.
On the morning of February 10 (local time), the ICGC headquarters in Canada officially announced Korea's accession to the ICGC by displaying the logo on its homepage.
The research team intends to formulate personalized therapy guidelines for acute myeloid leukemia tailored to Koreans within a couple of years. Acute myeloid leukemia, the most common type of leukemia, occurs when white blood cells turn malignant, accumulate in the bone marrow, and spread through peripheral blood to the whole body. This fatal disease shows a high mortality rate, causing 90% of the patients to die within 1 year unless proper treatments are given, but its genetic cause is still unclear.
By analyzing mutant cancer genomic data along with the TCGA, the research team plans to identify genomic mutations causing acute myeloid leukemia and genetic variations exclusive to Koreans compared with Westerners. The study will hereby lay the foundation for development of anti-cancer agents that selectively destroy the targeted mutant genes. Moreover, it will detect prognostic factors behind the relapse of acute myeloid leukemia, which, in turn, will be applied to development of the Novel Chemotherapeutic Guideline for leukemia.
Accordingly, the research team plans to gain research grants (KRW 0.4 billion per annum) for 5 years from the National Project for Personalized Genomic Medicine (headed by Hyung-lae Kim, Professor of Ewha Woman’s University) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
“Personalized genomic medicine is a very promising area. Our participation is the by-product of advanced research and technical prowess of Korean genomic medicine. This international research collaboration can pave the way for the SNU Hospital's personalized medicine for Korean blood cancer cases,” said Professor Sung-Soo Yoon.
In addition to acute myeloid leukemia, the research team will expand international research collaboration by broadening horizons over other related diseases such as multiple myeloma, lymphoma, etc.
The ICGC was organized in 2008 by 8 countries to perform joint research projects on genome, transcriptome, epigenome, and cancer proteome of over 50 cancer types of clinical and social importance, thereby proceeding with the most ambitious and largest research project in biology, engineering, and medicine following the human genome project. The research team led by professor Sung-Soo Yoon, Dept. of Internal Medicine, SNU Hospital, gave a presentation on domestic research findings at the hot topic session on notable research output of the year during the 7th ICGC annual symposium.
TCGA, founded in 2006, pertains to the U.S.-led coordinated effort as a cancer genome consortium toward efficient cancer genome research, with a goal of solidifying the basis of personalized cancer therapy through analysis of 20 cancer genomes. Laying the foundation for genomic studies worldwide, the TCGA undertakes international agreements and joint researches with research groups in advanced nations. Professor Sung-Soo Yoon's team's accession to the ICGC and joint research with the TCGA, a world-class cancer genome entity, bear testimony to international recognition of advances in Korean cancer genome studies.