Osteonecrosis, a disease caused by reduced blood flow to bones in the joints, is a significant side effect of chemotherapy in children with acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL), especially in patients aged 10 to 20 years.

As previous research has focused on patients older than 10, this study - presented by Dr Seth Karol at ASH 2015 - sought to evaluate whether genetic risk factors for osteonecrosis differ for younger children.

Investigators performed a genome-wide association study in 1,186 children, including an initial discovery group of 82 with osteonecrosis and 287 patients who did not develop osteonecrosis, to identify genetic variants that are most common among those with the bone disease.

Researchers observed that patients with osteonecrosis are eight to 15 times more likely to possesses genetic variants near a gene important to bone development (BMP7) and between three to six times more likely to have variants near a gene important to fat levels in the blood (PROX1).

The findings suggest that these genes are associated with increased risk of osteonecrosis in children under 10 years old.

This study increases understanding of the development of osteonecrosis which may lead to better treatments in the future.

Watch the press conference and video interview for more information.

Source: ASH