Overview
- The study, published November 12 in Nature Communications, was led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute with clinicians at Great Ormond Street Hospital, UCL, and Addenbrooke's Hospital.
- Single-cell genomic profiling of bone marrow from 58 children with T-ALL mapped T-cell origins and linked activation of ZBTB16 to refractory leukemia blasts.
- Analysis of genomic data from hundreds of ALL cases indicated the ZBTB16 switch can engage at any stage of T-cell development.
- Adding a ZBTB16 readout to standard flow cytometry could identify non-responders on day one and help clinicians spare ineffective chemotherapy.
- The finding opens routes to targeted therapies against the ZBTB16-positive cell type, with researchers stressing that diagnostic uptake and treatments require further validation and trials.