PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists have created a way to identify proteins candidates for targeted therapy in acute myeloid leukemia.

   Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researcher Jeff Tyner and colleagues said the new functional assay yields results in just four days, identifying which proteins from the tyrosine kinase family are contributing to an individual patient's cancer.

   "If you know what protein is driving the cancer, you have the ability to target that protein and stop it," said Tyner. "With this knowledge it may be possible to match targeted drugs with the appropriate patient. It may also be possible to identify mechanisms as to why certain leukemias respond well to therapy and why others may not."

   Tyner said the assay will enable researches to more quickly compile a database of mutant genes that cause cancer. Secondly, he said, it is possible the technology might, in the future, be adapted for direct clinical use for diagnostic purposes. In that manner, the assay could be run on a patient's malignant cells and the appropriate drug could then be determined to treat that patient.

   The research was presented Monday in Atlanta during the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

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