Recent breakthrough research has been done on children’s Leukemia at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. Researchers have now found a way to further look into the genetic makeup of cancer cells patient-to-patient. Further research into this genetic material is now showing a deeper understanding of genetic errors, white blood cells, and other striking information pertaining to Leukemia. This is further developing personalized treatment, all dependent on if they show signs of achieving a lengthy cure or if they will not survive more than five years due to intense relapse. With that said, this study is proving an increase in saved lives of children who have the most common form of Leukemia or recurrent Leukemia because their cancer cells can now be further studied, which in turn, is providing them with a treatment best suited for their individual cases.
Studying the severity of the case and genetic makeup of the cells is giving researchers an idea as to if the case is at high risk or low risk. When this question is answered, the treatment can be further personalized as to enduring more chemotherapy or receiving a stem cell transplant. With that said, not every study is perfect, leading to different responses in treatments that may not prove to show such a simple treatment. While this breakthrough research in children’s Leukemia is something that is still a study in the works, it is a major step in the right direction towards saving lives.
Works Cited:
“Cancer Cell Screening Advances Personalised Treatment of Childhood Leukaemia.” Bloodwise. N.p., 22 Aug. 2016. Web. 05 Sept. 2016. <https://bloodwise.org.uk/blog/cancer-cell-screening-advances-personalised-treatment-childhood-leukaemia>.
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Journey With AP and Me 
Thank you for following my blog! I’m a two time melanoma cancer survivor myself.
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Taylor, what an interesting and important blog post! How encouraging that researchers are developing more personalized study of treatments for cancer in children. It sounds complex, but the researchers seem to be learning more and more about how leukemia can affect children differently and the hope is that they will be able to help more children fight this horrible disease. I’m not sure if this is part of your blog posting, but I would like to have heard more about what you personally thought of this study.
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