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M.D. helps develop way to check for the diseases without

taking marrow

By PATRICK KURP

Special To The Chronicle

Amaya, a registered nurse at the University of Texas M.D.

Cancer Center in Houston, has never had cancer, but out of

professional curiosity and empathy for her patients, she has

undergone bone-marrow aspiration and biopsy 18 times.

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The procedure, used to test for leukemia and lymphoma, is simple but

daunting (at least for most patients): A bone-piercing, large-gauge

needle is inserted, usually into the flattest part of the hipbone,

and with the aid of a syringe a sample of marrow is removed.

" On a scale of 1-10, I'd say the pain was about 0-1. I didn't find it

as bad as some patients do, " said Amaya, who is the bone-marrow

aspiration supervisor at M.D. .

" But then, I've been a nurse for 36 years, and I've been taking these

samples for 26 or 27 years, " she said.

In part to ease the anxiety and discomfort of cancer patients but

also to improve their diagnostic prowess, doctors and researchers at

M.D. , in partnership with Quest Diagnostics of New Jersey,

have developed a simple blood test to diagnose and monitor leukemia

and lymphoma.

" Probably, the bone-marrow biopsy will still be used for diagnostic

purposes, at least for a few years, but we expect the new tests to

become the standard method for monitoring even small amounts of any

disease that remains, " said Dr. J. Keating, a professor in

the Department of Leukemia at M.D. , where he has been on the

faculty since1977.

The technology underlying the new tests was developed by a team

headed by Dr. Maher Albitar, formerly a professor at M.D.

and now the medical director for hematopathology at Quest Diagnostics.

The tests detect the presence of telltale proteins found on the

surface of tumor cells, as well as molecular targets within the cells.

Two U.S. patent applications have been submitted, and clinical trials

are still under way, comparing the results from bone-marrow biopsies

and the new blood tests.

Keating expects the new tests to be approved and available to doctors

and laboratories within 18 months.

Besides causing less pain, Keating said, the new tests are more

clinically useful because they provide information about the entire

body.

Also, they eliminate the need for some patients to travel long

distances because blood samples can be drawn anywhere and shipped to

a laboratory for testing.

" The technology is already there. Now we're testing, " Keating said.

" There's still uncertainty about how much insurance carriers will

cover. The cost will certainly be less than the bone-marrow biopsies.

We think this will revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment for

these cancers. "

" Anything that helps the patients, that eases their discomfort, is a

good thing, " Amaya said.

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