Hey @Jdlc. Thank you :) The reply function is not working...

Hey @Jdlc. Thank you The reply function is not working properly.

I have not compared total number of patients, but it is a great idea. Yes, EMD AML have a small subset of patients, but lung and breast cancer are ranked one and two as the most frequently diagnosed cancers worldwide and both have subtypes that overexpress FTO (1-2).

I have found it quite difficult to determine the number of applicable patients for an FTO inhibitor, as I do not have access to the data necessary to make that estaimation. If I remember correctly, @RaceOncology suggests that FTO is a driver in 20% of all metastatic cancers. So, I'll use 10% for the purpose of this exercise.

I cannot find data on the number of metastatic cancers worldwide, but I can find this:

It is estimated that metastasis is responsible for 90% of cancer deaths (3-4).
9.9 million people died in 2020 from cancer (1).

9,900,000 x 90% = 8,910,000 (estimated global metastatic patients)
8,910,000 x 10% = 891,000 (estimated global metastatic patients where FTO is a driver)

Obviously, there is a lot to be done to this figure before it would become realistic like factoring in the number of cancer indications applicable to an FTO inhibitor and whether an FTO inhibitor would be effective. Given these unknowns, the figure above is definitely not accurate for the potential patient population. However, it does put things into perspective when I consider that Loxo Therapeutics was bought out for USD $8 B for an addressable patient population of 5000 (2% of lung and 10-20% of thyroid) (5). Indeed, their FDA approved drug, Vitrakvi, would have influenced this figure, but I do not know by how much.

Hope this helps

1 https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.3322/caac.21660
2 https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/rac-primer.5627186/page-440?post_id=53654079
3 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21436443/
4 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3597235/#R9
5 https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/lilly-loxo-292-ret-wclc-lung-cancer-results/562419/