The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug for the treatment of adult patients who have relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a FLT3 mutation. AML is a rapidly progressing cancer that crowds out normal cells in the bone marrow and bloodstream, resulting in low numbers of normal blood cells and a continuous need for transfusions, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Approximately 25 to 30 per cent of patients with AML have a mutation in the FLT3 gene. These mutations are associated with a particularly aggressive form of the disease and a higher risk of relapse," Richard Pazdur, acting director of the Office of Haematology and Oncology Products in the FDA's Centre for Drug Evaluation and Research, said on Wednesday.