Richard C. Harvey, Ph.D.
Research Professor, Department of Pathology
Health Sciences
The University of New Mexico
Dr. Harvey has disclosed three inventions, received one UNM-affiliated issued U. S. patent, and has one pending patent application for his leukemia technologies.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children. High-risk B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) patients are fewer in number and have not been well studied. In the United States, over 62,130 new cases of leukemia will be diagnosed this year. Of that number, about 5,970 will be acute lymphoblastic leukemia, with 4 out of 10 ALL cases occurring in adults. Children between the ages of 2 and 4 are most at risk, while elderly people over the age of 50 are also at risk. The five-year, event-free survival rate in children is about 80% and in adults about 40%. The outcome of ALL has improved over time, but 25% of children still relapse.
Dr. Harvey’s technology provides a method for identifying prognostic genetic markers in patients with high-risk B-ALL. By establishing a threshold value of prognostic genes, the method can predict the patient’s therapeutic outcome. This technology is useful in determining the most effective therapeutic agents to use when planning the patient’s course of treatment. This improved diagnostic and risk classification technology may improve clinical outcomes for B-ALL patients, particularly for the 25% of children who relapse.
Dr. Harvey’s research focuses on leukemia and lymphoma, molecular markers of disease, and gene expression signatures in cancer.
ISSUED U. S. PATENT (UNM-AFFILIATED)
8,568,974 Identification of Novel Subgroups of High-Risk Pediatric Precursor B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Outcome Correlations and Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods Related to Same, issued October 29, 2013
PENDING PATENT APPLICATION
Gene Expression Signatures for Detection of Underlying Philadelphia Chromosome-Like (Ph-Like) Events and Therapeutic Targeting in Leukemia