Sequenom, Inc., a leading provider of genetic analysis solutions, announced results of a large, multi-centre retrospective study from the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute and the University of Minnesota Cancer Center showing that donors with more stimulatory natural killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) haplotypes result in significantly improved treatment outcome in patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) who received haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) therapy. The complete results from the study are published in Blood (Volume 113, Number 3), the journal of the American Society of Hematology.

Using Sequenom's high-throughput MassARRAY genotyping system based on MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, the KIR genes of the donor cells were easily distinguished, and the haplotypes were identified as either group A (inhibitory) or B (stimulatory). Study results confirmed that unrelated donors with the KIR B haplotype confer a significant survival benefit to patients with AML, a deadly cancer of the blood, receiving T-replete haematopoietic cell transplantation therapy.

"In this study, we found approximately two-thirds of the HCT donors had at least one KIR B haplotype, suggesting that preferential selection of KIR B donors is feasible and provides a significant clinical benefit," said Elizabeth Trachtenberg, Ph.D., D(ABHI), associate research scientist & director, HLA/Immunogenetics and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratories, Children's Hospital & Research Center, Oakland (CHRCO). "Although the mechanisms underlying the observed improved treatment outcome associated with the KIR B haplotype are currently unclear, further studies are underway to both analyze and validate the functional effects of KIR in HCT."

Sequenom's proprietary MassARRAY system is a high-performance DNA analysis platform that efficiently and precisely measures the amount of genetic target material and variations therein. The system is able to deliver reliable and specific data from complex biological samples and from genetic target material that is only available in trace amounts. The rapid and accurate MassARRAY-based genotyping protocol, based on the presence or absence of 16 KIR genes, was previously validated by a large-scale genotyping study (Houtchens et al, 2007, Immunogenetics, 59:525).

"Sequenom's innovative MassARRAY technology is one of the most robust methodologies available for DNA analysis, and its use in the genotyping process to analyze key immune receptors is indicative of the breadth of its applications," said Charles R. Cantor, Ph.D., chief scientific officer and chairman of the scientific advisory board, Sequenom. "The KIR immunogenetic typing research done by the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute and the University of Minnesota Cancer Center is impressive, and further exemplifies how our genetic analysis products can translate genomic science into superior solutions for biomedical research and early detection and treatment of serious, life-threatening diseases."

Sequenom is committed to providing the best genetic analysis products that translate the results of genomic science into solutions for noninvasive prenatal diagnostics, biomedical research, translational research and molecular medicine applications.