 |
A scanning electron
microscope image
from normal circulating
human blood. – Wikipedia
|
CANCER DIGEST – March 19, 2016 – Researchers have developed
a compound that shows promise for extending survival in patients with a
drug-resistant form of leukemia.
Adult
acute
myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer
of the blood
and bone
marrow that usually gets worse quickly if it is not treated. It has a poor
prognosis, with survival rates between 60 percent and 70 percent in children
and less than 50 percent in adults.
In
preclinical testing, the new compound has shown a doubling of average survival
days in laboratory models of drug-resistant forms of the disease. The
researchers say the findings, published March 17 in the journal JCI Insight, could
pave the way for human clinical trials.
In
tests using multiple preclinical models, researchers demonstrated that the
compound, called MRX-2843, blocked the growth of acute myeloid leukemia cells,
and led to a significant level of cancer cell death. They also determined that
giving the compound orally once a day to mice with human AML tissue increased
the mice's survival two to three times.
"Our
data indicate that this could be a superior drug for certain resistant forms of
acute myeloid leukemia; however, it has to be tested in clinical trials," Shelton
Earp, MD, director of UNC Cancer Care and Lineberger said in a press release.
"We know that leukemia can develop resistance to drugs similar to ours.
The questions is: Would this new UNC inhibitor give patients with resistant
acute myeloid leukemia longer survival? This is a particularly salient question
for older AML patients who can't tolerate high doses of chemotherapy and bone
marrow transplant."
No comments:
Post a Comment