Precision medicine results from equitable representation

Bone Marrow Transplant. 2024 Oct 21. doi: 10.1038/s41409-024-02430-z. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

In this special issue of Bone Marrow Transplantation, investigators report the impact of IDH1 [1], IDH2 [2], and FLT3-TKD [3] measurable residual disease (MRD) pre-hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in predicting relapse of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults receiving allogeneic HCT. The patient population for these retrospective cohorts, reflecting clinical transplant practice patterns and research biobank participation, was 84-86% non-Hispanic White (NHW) in each study. In this commentary, we explore the implications of racial and ethnic disparities in access to both HCT and HCT-related research and propose strategies to promote representation in precision medicine, given the emerging impact of the field on HCT outcomes.