MHH physicians Prof. Dr. Michael Heuser and Prof. Dr. Felicitas Tholder have developed a method to better detect a relapse in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The aim is to integrate the technology into the routine treatment of AML patients. Patients with acute myeloid leukemia should thus be recognized and treated more quickly.

The Scientific Advisory Board of the José Carreras Leukemia Foundation honored her work "Measurable residual disease monitoring by NGS before allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in AML", published in the renowned journal BLOOD in 2018, with the José Carreras Prize. The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros and is freely available to the researchers for their further work.

The two prizewinners: "As part of this research project funded by the José Carreras Leukemia Foundation, we have developed a new method for determining minimal residual disease (MRD) for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). While a corresponding MRD marker was previously only detectable in around 40 percent of AML patients, we have now been able to find a suitable molecular MRD marker in 93 percent of AML patients using a special sequencing technology. This makes it possible to identify high-risk patients earlier and treat them accordingly. Our goal is to integrate this technology into the routine treatment of AML patients."

The José Carreras Best Paper Award honors physicians and researchers from other scientific disciplines who have published a scientific paper on leukemia or another malignant blood or bone marrow disease and whose publication has met with the greatest possible response in professional circles. The next call for entries will take place in October 2020.

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