Joshua Wolf, MBBS, Ph.D. and Kathryn Goggin, M.D., are utilizing microbial cell-free DNA to detect bloodstream infections in leukemia patients.
Children with leukemia are at high risk of infection because treatments weaken their immune systems. Detecting infections early can make a life-saving difference.
Researchers at St. Jude showed that a new test predicted bloodstream infections up to three days before symptoms appeared.
The pilot study enrolled 47 patients, with 19 bloodstream infections. In 75% of the cases, the test picked up infections before standard testing – in some cases before any symptoms appeared.
“This work gets to the heart of something families of children with cancer desperately want: to know what is coming next and to be able to do something about it,” said co-senior author Joshua Wolf, MBBS, PhD, of Infectious Diseases.
JAMA Oncology published a report on this work.
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