A new protein known as YTHDF2 was found to play an important role in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). AML is an aggressive cancer of white blood cells with very poor survival rates.
The study showed that the protein, known as YTHDF2, is needed to trigger and sustain the disease, but is not needed for healthy cells to function. This identifies YTHDF2 as a promising drug target for leukaemia.
Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Acute myeloid Leukemia, more popularly known by its abbreviated form AML, is a fast- evolving leukemia that affects both children and adults alike
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‘The protein discovery could lead to novel treatments that efficiently eliminate blood cancer cells in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), without harming healthy blood cells.’
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A team of researchers jointly led by the University of Edinburgh and Queen Mary University of London carried out a series of experiments to understand the role of YTHDF2 in blood cancer.
Tests in blood samples donated by leukaemia patients showed that the protein is abundant in cancer cells, while experiments in mice found that the protein is required to initiate and maintain the disease.
![Quiz on Leukemia]( "Quiz on Leukemia")
Making up for 2.9% of all cancers, Leukemia is a serious condition. Do you know all about it? Test your knowledge with this quiz.
Further tests enabled scientists to determine the biological pathway by which interfering with the function of YTHDF2 selectively kills blood cancer cells.
Importantly, they also showed that the protein is not needed to support the function of healthy blood stem cells, which are responsible for the production of all normal blood cells. In fact, blood stem cells were even more active in the absence of YTHDF2.
The study, carried out in collaboration with the University of Manchester, Harvard Medical School and the Université de Tours, was published in Cell Stem Cell. It was supported by Cancer Research UK and Wellcome.
Professor Kamil Kranc, of Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, who jointly led the study, said: "Our work sets the stage for therapeutic targeting of cancer stem cells in leukaemia while enhancing the regenerative capacity of normal blood stem cells. We hope this will establish a new paradigm in cancer treatment."
Professor Dónal O'Carroll, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences, who co-led the research, said: "The study shows the promise of a novel class of drugs as the basis for cancer and regenerative medicine treatments."
Source: Eurekalert
Quiz on Leukemia
Making up for 2.9% of all cancers, Leukemia is a serious condition. Do you know all about it? Test your knowledge with this quiz.
Advertisement
Further tests enabled scientists to determine the biological pathway by which interfering with the function of YTHDF2 selectively kills blood cancer cells.
Importantly, they also showed that the protein is not needed to support the function of healthy blood stem cells, which are responsible for the production of all normal blood cells. In fact, blood stem cells were even more active in the absence of YTHDF2.
The study, carried out in collaboration with the University of Manchester, Harvard Medical School and the Université de Tours, was published in Cell Stem Cell. It was supported by Cancer Research UK and Wellcome.
Professor Kamil Kranc, of Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, who jointly led the study, said: "Our work sets the stage for therapeutic targeting of cancer stem cells in leukaemia while enhancing the regenerative capacity of normal blood stem cells. We hope this will establish a new paradigm in cancer treatment."
Professor Dónal O'Carroll, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences, who co-led the research, said: "The study shows the promise of a novel class of drugs as the basis for cancer and regenerative medicine treatments."
Source: Eurekalert
New Insights into Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment
Research on the drug responses of leukemia stem cells may reveal why some attempts to treat are not successful or why initially promising treatment results are not sustained.
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 FDA's Nod for New Drug to Treat Acute Myeloid LeukemiaThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug for treating adult patients who have relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a confirmed FLT3 mutation. | Advertisement
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