Targeted Therapies to Prevent Leukemia Relapse: Discovery of Growth Regulators Offers Hope

Friday - February 16 2024, 23:59 UTC - 9 months ago

Research has identified two growth regulators involved in acute myeloid leukemia relapse, offering hope for targeted therapies to prevent recurrence. The study looked at single cells from patients with a specific subtype of AML and found that by activating these regulators, stem cell growth could be triggered. Repurposing drugs already approved for other diseases showed promise in blocking this growth, highlighting the potential for precision medicine.

Leukemia is a type of cancer that starts in the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common type of leukemia in adults, and while chemotherapy can often reduce the number of cancer cells in the body, it does not always eliminate all of the malignant cells. This means that even after successful treatment, there is a high risk of relapse. This is especially true for a specific subtype of AML, t(8;21) AML, which is known to have a higher rate of relapse compared to other subtypes .