Genomics of AML: Clinical Applications of Next-Generation Sequencing

TLDR: How next-generation sequencing is being used to study cancer genomes is discussed, which offers the potential for an individualized approach to treatment in AML and brings us one step closer to personalized medicine.

Abstract: In the past decade, a series of technological advances have revolutionized our ability to interrogate cancer genomes, culminating in whole-genome sequencing, which provides genome-wide coverage at a single base-pair resolution. As sequencing technologies improve and costs decrease, it is likely that whole-genome sequencing of cancer cells will become commonplace in the diagnostic workup of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and other cancers. The unprecedented molecular characterization provided by whole-genome sequencing offers the potential for an individualized approach to treatment in AML, bringing us one step closer to personalized medicine. In this chapter, we discuss how next-generation sequencing is being used to study cancer genomes. Recent publications of whole-genome sequencing in AML are reviewed and current limitations of whole-genome sequencing are examined, as well as current and potential future clinical applications of whole-genome sequencing.