Tuesday, April 03, 2012

AGBL-NOVARTIS CML program aims to improve the molecular techniques used to diagnose and monitor Philadelphia P210 patients treated with Glivec.

The program aims at establishing accurate quantification of the P210 translocation to assess the molecular response to the drug and diagnose early relapse and remission of CML patients. It is important to mention that establishing the correct molecular response of patients will allow the treating physician to adjust the dosage of the drug accordingly and monitor for Minimal Residual Disease (MRD), this process can be variable without using reference material, the European Treatment and Outcome Study has carried out extensive work around this matter and recommends using reference material for establishing conversion factors (CF) for labs to calculate normalized results for patients, furthermore there are numerous papers discussing the emergence of mutations and drug resistance, which makes the establishment of accurate molecular lab results a necessity to avoid such complications.

The AGBL-Novartis CML program in Algeria is a collaborative work between Alliance Global and Novartis to identify key laboratories and offer them technical training on using reference material and standardized protocols to establish accurate molecular monitoring using validated and certified kits and protocols.

The Immunology Department at Beni Messous Hospital was the first qualified lab for this program in Algeria and has received technical training by AGBL technical team on using CE-IVD kits manufactured by Nanogen Advanced Diagnostics (NAD) and RNA Reference Material to calculate their conversion factors (CF) and establish normalized results for their tests.

This event has been published in two known French-written Algerian newspapers.

English translation is as follows:

“THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES AGAINST CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA

The first at Beni-Messous Central University Hospital

The Central Laboratory of Medical Biology at Beni-Messous University Hospital, led by Professor M. Ghaffour, has achieved a unique breakthrough in the therapeutic molecular monitoring of patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) using molecular biology techniques, an indispensable diagnostic tool. This work was done in collaboration with Professor M. Belhani (Head of the Hematology Department). CML is a cancer of excessive production of white blood cells that is usually associated with genetic abnormalities. There are 250 new cases each year in Algeria, mainly occurring after the age of 50. As of this week, it is important to note that the chief unit of the abovementioned hospital, namely Professor R. Djidjik, shall formally conduct this kind of specialized examinations for all Algerian patients that are suffering from CML. An international standardization of this perspective became effective following a 2-day training program that was held on the 2nd and 3rd of April 2012. This training was sponsored by Novartis Oncology Algeria with the support of the Algerian Embassy in Jordan reflected by sending an expert, namely Dr. May Abu Taha. This unique operation in Algeria will allow several CML patients to conduct such examinations without the need of travelling abroad.”