Nearly 139,000 Americans are affected by leukemia or lymphoma, and every 10 minutes someone is expected to die from one of these two forms of blood cancers. To bring attention to these life-threatening diseases, September is recognized as Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month.
Molecular Pathology Laboratory Network, Inc. (MPLN) offers a comprehensive test menu for the prognosis and diagnosis of leukemia and lymphoma as well as targeted assays to help physicians select appropriate treatment options and monitor therapy effectiveness in individual patients. Through the use of StrataFLEXTM, MPLN’s innovative health management strategy, clinicians are provided with disease-specific testing algorithms and reflex testing options to meet these diagnostic and prognostic needs.
“A leukemia/lymphoma patient can present a number of diagnostic and prognostic challenges for the physician,” said Dr. Nicholas T. Potter, director of molecular diagnostics and chief scientific officer for MPLN. “In this regard, our ability to offer a number of complementary technologies such as flow cytometry, cytogenetics, fluorescence in situ hybridization, gene sequencing, quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry, allows us to maximize the number of relevant tests that can be performed on the specimen while minimizing the complexity of the testing process.”
MPLN enhances the overall health management process by making diagnostic decisions easier for clients through the delivery of reliable, comprehensive and clinically relevant results in a timely fashion.
To monitor treatment success and the detection of minimal residual disease (MRD), MPLN also offers several sensitive quantitative PCR-based tests for the detection of the PML-RARA gene fusions (long and short forms) in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL/AML-M3) and BCR-ABL gene fusions (major and minor) in chronic myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Furthermore, MPLN’s sequence based test for the detection of ABL kinase gene mutations can be very useful for the identification of CML patients who develop a resistance to the drug Gleevec®. Studies indicate that Gleevec therapy eventually fails to some extent in most CML patients. Usually, this treatment failure is attributed to positive selection for drug-resistant leukemic cells, which carry a mutated chimeric ABL kinase gene. Typically after seeing an increase in qPCR BCR-ABL levels, ABL gene sequence is requested. These mutations can be detected in therapy-unresponsive patients when at least 20 percent of their Ph-positive leukemic cells carry a Gleevec resistance mutation.
“From screening to treatment monitoring, management of patients with leukemia and lymphoma requires an individualized and rational approach. MPLN provides the essential laboratory information needed to help physicians deliver the best possible patient care,” Potter said.
For a complete list of assays for hematology and oncology, visit MPLN’s online test menu or contact client services at 866.726.1833.
MPLN is a privately held molecular diagnostic laboratory founded in 1989 and headquartered in Maryville, Tenn. A leader in laboratory medicine, MPLN offers a comprehensive selection of molecular diagnostics and cytogenetic testing that targets oncology, obstetrics, gynecology, medical genetics, gastroenterology and infectious disease. The laboratory also has an active research and development and clinical trials program and has extensive expertise in chromosome analysis, flow cytometry, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), real-time and quantitative polymerase chain reaction technologies, immunohistochemistry and gene sequencing.
MPLN is certified by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), and licensed by the states of Tennessee, Florida, New York and Maryland.
