Blood cancer’s genetic warning signs may appear years early

Research led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute found that blood cancers may show detectable genetic warning signs years before patients develop serious symptoms. Scientists followed 30 patients with chronic blood cancers, primarily myeloproliferative neoplasms, for up to 25 years and performed more than 450 genomic tests. Using DNA analysis, they created genetic 'family trees' of blood cells that revealed distinct patterns of disease progression among patients. Patients whose disease remained stable had genetically stable blood cell populations with few or no additional mutations, while patients with progressive disease developed new DNA changes over time. Approximately 40,000 people in the United Kingdom live with these cancers and about 4,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. The findings could lead to earlier intervention and help doctors distinguish true cancer from harmless age-related blood changes.