Goodbye Bone Marrow Biopsies? New Blood Test Offers Hope for Leukemia Screening

Imagine if a simple blood test could uncover how fast you're aging—and predict your risk for future diseases. At the Weizmann Institute of Science, researchers led by Profs. Liran Shlush and Amos Tanay are diving deep into the biology of blood to decode the aging process and understand why some individuals face greater health risks as they grow older (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
A reference model of circulating hematopoietic stem cells across the lifespan with applications to diagnostics

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Genetic Mutations in Blood Stem Cells: A Hidden Risk for Age-Related Diseases

Their interdisciplinary teams—combining expertise from medicine, biology, and data science—are closely monitoring changes in blood-forming stem cells. They've found that roughly one-third of people over 40 develop genetic mutations in these cells. These mutations not only raise the risk of blood cancers like leukemia but are also associated with conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.

In a new study published in Nature Medicine – just days after their labs were severely damaged in an Iranian missile attack – Shlush and Tanay present findings that may lead to an innovative blood test for detecting a person’s risk of developing leukemia. This test may potentially replace the invasive diagnostic procedure of bone marrow sampling. The study focused on myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), an age-related condition in which blood stem cells fail to properly mature into functional blood cells. Diagnosing MDS and assessing its severity is crucial, as it can lead to severe anemia and may progress to acute myeloid leukemia, one of the most common blood cancers in adults. Until now, diagnosis has relied on bone marrow sampling, a procedure that requires local anesthesia and can cause discomfort or pain.

In the new study, a research team led by Dr. Nili Furer, Nimrod Rappoport and Oren Milman, in collaboration with physicians and researchers in Israel and the United States, showed that rare blood stem cells – which occasionally exit the bone marrow and enter the bloodstream – carry diagnostic information about MDS. The researchers also discovered that the migrating stem cells can serve as a clock for our chronological age, and that in males, their population changes earlier than in women in a way that increases the risk of cancer.

Unlocking New Diagnostics: Blood Test Holds Promise Beyond Cancer

This finding may explain the higher prevalence of blood cancers among men. The scientists believe that using the test to diagnose MDS and leukemia is only the beginning, and that in the future it could be applied to a range of other blood-related disorders.

The current findings are already being tested in a large-scale clinical trial at several medical centers around the world.

In addition to his laboratory research, Shlush is also a senior physician at Assuta Medical Center in Ashdod and at Maccabi Healthcare Services, and he heads the newly established Miriam and Aaron Gutwirth Medical School at the Weizmann Institute.

The school was founded to address the emerging needs and challenges of the worlds of medicine and research and to bridge, as much as possible, the gap between today’s science and tomorrow’s medicine. Unlike existing programs around the world that combine medicine with research, the new program is expected to unify and intertwine the clinical and research components.

The school is scheduled to open its doors for the first time this coming October and aims to train the next generation of physician-scientists.

Reference:

1. A reference model of circulating hematopoietic stem cells across the lifespan with applications to diagnostics - (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03716-5)

Source-Eurekalert