Gene changes that may cause cancer in cells that make new blood cells

Bone marrow is the soft, inner part of the bone. Bone marrow cells form new blood cells. Changes in some of the genes in these cells may cause cancer. At this time, we are starting to learn about the gene changes that cause blood cell cancers. Researchers will use BioVU to find healthy patients who later developed chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). CML is a blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow. They will look for changes in certain genes before they got sick. They will also check how well some of these patients responded to certain drugs. Researchers will also look for patients with other blood cell cancers. They will check for gene changes in their cancer cells. Knowing the gene changes might help us find new drugs to treat those cancers.