Cancer research: U of M researcher looks at early detection [Video]

A groundbreaking study by a University of Manitoba professor is bringing hopes of accurate predictions in patients with a deadly blood cancer called multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma is an incurable blood cancer with approximately 4,000 Canadians diagnosed each year. Patients show no symptoms until the disease progresses from what is called “smoldering” multiple myeloma to multiple myeloma.

Dr. Sabine Mai, the UM Canada Research Chair in genomic instability and nuclear architecture in cancer, and her team at Telo Genomics recently published co-authored findings in the American Journal of Hematology about the results of almost 10 years of work.

Mai’s study showed her method can predict the risk a patient with “smoldering” multiple myeloma will progress to having multiple myeloma. Currently there is no accurate tool to identify the progression of multiple myeloma in patients, and Mai and her team are looking to change that.

Mai and her team use the …