Professor Hyeri Kim of the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Asan Medical Center is treating a child with leukemia. (Image courtesy of Asan Medical Center)
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – Advances in personalized medicine are helping transform the outlook for children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood blood cancer.
A study by researchers at Asan Medical Center in Seoul found that adjusting chemotherapy intensity according to the level of minimal residual disease (MRD) — trace amounts of cancer cells that remain even after apparent remission — dramatically improved long-term survival rates.
The research, published in the journal Blood Research, analyzed the cases of 212 pediatric ALL patients treated at the hospital between January 2013 and June 2023.
Patients whose MRD levels remained high after initial treatment and subsequently received stronger chemotherapy regimens recorded a five-year event-free survival rate of 90 percent, compared with just 19 percent among those who did not receive intensified therapy.
Similarly, among patients testing positive for MRD after a second round of treatment, survival rates climbed to 95.2 percent when therapy was stepped up, versus 75.4 percent without adjustments.
“For children at high risk of relapse, MRD-guided treatment offers a powerful tool to improve survival outcomes,” said Dr. Kim Hye-ri, a pediatric oncologist at Asan Medical Center and lead author of the study.
Until recently, detecting MRD was difficult, limiting physicians’ ability to tailor therapies. Advances in bone marrow testing have now made it possible to measure even tiny amounts of residual cancer cells, allowing doctors to fine-tune treatment intensity and improve prognosis.
While overall survival rates for childhood ALL have risen sharply in recent decades thanks to medical advances, relapse remains a major risk for patients with detectable MRD. The findings underscore the potential of precision oncology to close that gap and offer renewed hope to families facing the disease.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
