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By VIKTORIA PEARSON
LVN Staff Writer
Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed Wednesday that a gene variant was found in all leukemia cases involved in a genetic study.
The CDC studied 13 genes in a three-year process. One gene, called SUOX, was discovered to have a variant. The gene instructs the body how to make the enzyme sulfate oxidase, which changes unsafe chemicals introduced into the body to safe substances.
Genetic testing was the next step by the CDC after a childhood leukemia cluster was first reported in 2000 in Fallon. Seventeen children have developed leukemia in Fallon since 1997. Three have died.
Of the 14 families of surviving leukemia children, 11 voluntarily underwent testing for the genetic study in 2003. All 11 were found to have the variant of SUOX. However, the results were also consistent among 40 percent of the control group, said Dr. Carol Ruben, chief of the Health Studies Branch for CDC.
She said the study could not have been done if control families had not volunteered to undergo testing. She said there were three to four control samples studied for each of the leukemia case samples.
“Although we tried to get four samples for each leukemia case, in some cases we were only able to get three,” said Ruben.
She said the gene variant is a significant finding. However, it’s only one piece to a very complex puzzle.
“It takes time,” she said. “This is good, good science.”
Genes carry codes or messages that determine the body’s functions and how it develops. Nearly all human genes, 99.9 percent, are the same, according to information provided by the CDC. In rare cases, a variant is found in the 0.1 percent of the human genome.
Ruben said the next phase is for other agencies and scientists to take what the CDC has found and study biological samples on a larger scope. The results are considered a step closer to identification of one factor for leukemia.
According to the study, if the variation in the SUOX gene is an added risk factor, other factors must be present.
“This is one step. There is more testing that needs to be done,” said Dr. Karen Steinberg, chief science officer for the coordinating center for health promotion for the CDC. “This will not predict that someone will get leukemia.”
She said the CDC will not conduct any further genetic testing, but the information will be available for other scientists and agencies to use for future research.
She said since genotypes are present at birth, they do not appear or change based on environment or illness.
“Although chemotherapy can affect cells, it does not affect genes,” said Steinberg. “Therefore, undergoing testing after treatment would not change the results.”
The call for more research was immediately embraced by incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
“While the exact cause of the cancer cluster is still unknown, I remain committed to finding answers,” Reid said to the Associated Press. “We must continue our work to help those who have already been affected by the cluster and to protect future generations of Fallon families.”
Jeff Braccini of Fallon, whose 8-year-old son, Jeremy, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001, said he was pleased with the CDC’s latest study.
He’s treasurer of Families in Search of Truth, which has secured $750,000 in federal funding through Reid’s help for research projects.
“Any time we get sound science I fully applaud it,” Braccini said. “My goal now is to tie the CDC and what they have done into our grant process that we have going on.”
Richard Jernee of College Place, Wash., whose 10-year-old son, Adam, became the first child to die in the cluster in 2001, said CDC waited too long to do DNA testing.
“It should have been conducted right away,” he said. “I certainly hope it can be used as a stepping stone to get to the truth.”
Dr. Scott Masten, a scientist for the National Toxicology Program, said it will be interesting to read the entire study and see were research can go from here. He said the work by the CDC was a step in the right direction.
“It’s an interesting finding,” said Masten.
The National Toxicology Program is currently studying the effects of tungsten on lab rats and mice.
Tungsten was nominated for study in 2002 by the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health after high levels of the heavy metal were found in urine samples of Fallon residents in a CDC study. At the time, little was known of the health effects caused from exposure to tungsten. The CDC found no association between tungsten, or any other environmental factor, and the leukemia cluster.
He said the CDC studied SUOX for a reason. In animal studies, tungsten is know to replace the metal molybdenum, which helps make the enzyme work in the SUOX gene.
“It can replace molybdenum because tungsten is very similar,” said Masten. “Then you see reduced function of the enzyme.”
He said the lab animals were given much higher levels of tungsten than those found in Fallon studies.
In the case of Fallon, there could be gene/environment interaction, Masten said. This could give researchers a direction to pursue. Three elemental factors can now be explored: The combinations of the gene variant, the high levels of tungsten found in Fallon studies and exposure to other chemicals introduced into the body that the gene would filter, he said.
Masten said speculation would be improper at this point. However, the results create an opportunity for further studies.
“We find variants in genes all the time. Whether it affects function of the gene is unknown,” said Masten. “The only way to figure it out is with more study.”
According to a study on human sulfite oxidase deficiency from the Duke University Medical Center, administering high doses of tungsten antagonizes the gene’s use of molybdenum in rats, causing deficiency in proper sulfite oxidase functions.
Dr. Al Levin of Incline Village, who previously has been involved with environmental testing related to the Fallon cluster, said the CDC research is a good step forward. However, he said it should have been done six years earlier.
Case families and control families were given the results of the genetic testing at separate meetings with the CDC Wednesday night. They were not available to comment on the results as of press time.
Editor’s note: Information from an Associated Press story by Martin Griffith was used in this story.
LVN Staff Writer
Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed Wednesday that a gene variant was found in all leukemia cases involved in a genetic study.
The CDC studied 13 genes in a three-year process. One gene, called SUOX, was discovered to have a variant. The gene instructs the body how to make the enzyme sulfate oxidase, which changes unsafe chemicals introduced into the body to safe substances.
Genetic testing was the next step by the CDC after a childhood leukemia cluster was first reported in 2000 in Fallon. Seventeen children have developed leukemia in Fallon since 1997. Three have died.
Of the 14 families of surviving leukemia children, 11 voluntarily underwent testing for the genetic study in 2003. All 11 were found to have the variant of SUOX. However, the results were also consistent among 40 percent of the control group, said Dr. Carol Ruben, chief of the Health Studies Branch for CDC.
She said the study could not have been done if control families had not volunteered to undergo testing. She said there were three to four control samples studied for each of the leukemia case samples.
“Although we tried to get four samples for each leukemia case, in some cases we were only able to get three,” said Ruben.
She said the gene variant is a significant finding. However, it’s only one piece to a very complex puzzle.
“It takes time,” she said. “This is good, good science.”
Genes carry codes or messages that determine the body’s functions and how it develops. Nearly all human genes, 99.9 percent, are the same, according to information provided by the CDC. In rare cases, a variant is found in the 0.1 percent of the human genome.
Ruben said the next phase is for other agencies and scientists to take what the CDC has found and study biological samples on a larger scope. The results are considered a step closer to identification of one factor for leukemia.
According to the study, if the variation in the SUOX gene is an added risk factor, other factors must be present.
“This is one step. There is more testing that needs to be done,” said Dr. Karen Steinberg, chief science officer for the coordinating center for health promotion for the CDC. “This will not predict that someone will get leukemia.”
She said the CDC will not conduct any further genetic testing, but the information will be available for other scientists and agencies to use for future research.
She said since genotypes are present at birth, they do not appear or change based on environment or illness.
“Although chemotherapy can affect cells, it does not affect genes,” said Steinberg. “Therefore, undergoing testing after treatment would not change the results.”
The call for more research was immediately embraced by incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
“While the exact cause of the cancer cluster is still unknown, I remain committed to finding answers,” Reid said to the Associated Press. “We must continue our work to help those who have already been affected by the cluster and to protect future generations of Fallon families.”
Jeff Braccini of Fallon, whose 8-year-old son, Jeremy, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001, said he was pleased with the CDC’s latest study.
He’s treasurer of Families in Search of Truth, which has secured $750,000 in federal funding through Reid’s help for research projects.
“Any time we get sound science I fully applaud it,” Braccini said. “My goal now is to tie the CDC and what they have done into our grant process that we have going on.”
Richard Jernee of College Place, Wash., whose 10-year-old son, Adam, became the first child to die in the cluster in 2001, said CDC waited too long to do DNA testing.
“It should have been conducted right away,” he said. “I certainly hope it can be used as a stepping stone to get to the truth.”
Dr. Scott Masten, a scientist for the National Toxicology Program, said it will be interesting to read the entire study and see were research can go from here. He said the work by the CDC was a step in the right direction.
“It’s an interesting finding,” said Masten.
The National Toxicology Program is currently studying the effects of tungsten on lab rats and mice.
Tungsten was nominated for study in 2002 by the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health after high levels of the heavy metal were found in urine samples of Fallon residents in a CDC study. At the time, little was known of the health effects caused from exposure to tungsten. The CDC found no association between tungsten, or any other environmental factor, and the leukemia cluster.
He said the CDC studied SUOX for a reason. In animal studies, tungsten is know to replace the metal molybdenum, which helps make the enzyme work in the SUOX gene.
“It can replace molybdenum because tungsten is very similar,” said Masten. “Then you see reduced function of the enzyme.”
He said the lab animals were given much higher levels of tungsten than those found in Fallon studies.
In the case of Fallon, there could be gene/environment interaction, Masten said. This could give researchers a direction to pursue. Three elemental factors can now be explored: The combinations of the gene variant, the high levels of tungsten found in Fallon studies and exposure to other chemicals introduced into the body that the gene would filter, he said.
Masten said speculation would be improper at this point. However, the results create an opportunity for further studies.
“We find variants in genes all the time. Whether it affects function of the gene is unknown,” said Masten. “The only way to figure it out is with more study.”
According to a study on human sulfite oxidase deficiency from the Duke University Medical Center, administering high doses of tungsten antagonizes the gene’s use of molybdenum in rats, causing deficiency in proper sulfite oxidase functions.
Dr. Al Levin of Incline Village, who previously has been involved with environmental testing related to the Fallon cluster, said the CDC research is a good step forward. However, he said it should have been done six years earlier.
Case families and control families were given the results of the genetic testing at separate meetings with the CDC Wednesday night. They were not available to comment on the results as of press time.
Editor’s note: Information from an Associated Press story by Martin Griffith was used in this story.
