New approach to the treatment of aggressive adult and childhood leukemia which promises to lead to long-term survival for those suffering from the blood cancer has been discovered by scientists.
The report of this ground-breaking technique has been published in the prestigious medical journal Cell Reports to introduce the double-barrelled approach to treatment of leukemia, reports Xinhua.
Advertisement
According to the findings, a mutant enzyme called JAK2 drives and feeds a virulent form of the cancer that has proved resistant to therapy.
"Not only do they grow very quickly and the tumours spread more rapidly but they're often refractory to standard chemotherapies up front. These are things that are very difficult to treat because they spread quickly. In addition, they cannot be treated by the common chemotherapy," ABC News quoted Ricky Johnstone, assistant director of research at the Peter MacCallum Centre, as saying.
![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.
The research team combined an existing blood cancer treatment with a novel drug to attack the cancer-causing activity of the JAK2 protein in two places, and found that cancer cells could not survive this precise, double-barrel hit.
The dual-pronged attack technique explains why the approach could inhibit both JAK2 and the survival molecules using a combination of drugs. It has already proved how successful it has been to overwhelm the survival capacity of these cancer cells through the mice experiments.
"One of the drugs we used in our work is already approved for the treatment of adults with other cancers, while the second is in clinical development, so we hope our combination regimen could be available for patients with JAK2-driven leukemia in a matter of years," said first author of the journal, Michaela Waibel.
Researchers hope the treatment will be available for clinical use within a year.
Source: IANS
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
The research team combined an existing blood cancer treatment with a novel drug to attack the cancer-causing activity of the JAK2 protein in two places, and found that cancer cells could not survive this precise, double-barrel hit.
The dual-pronged attack technique explains why the approach could inhibit both JAK2 and the survival molecules using a combination of drugs. It has already proved how successful it has been to overwhelm the survival capacity of these cancer cells through the mice experiments.
"One of the drugs we used in our work is already approved for the treatment of adults with other cancers, while the second is in clinical development, so we hope our combination regimen could be available for patients with JAK2-driven leukemia in a matter of years," said first author of the journal, Michaela Waibel.
Researchers hope the treatment will be available for clinical use within a year.
Source: IANS
Advertisement
Combining Chemotherapy With Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin can Improve Outcome of Bone Marrow Transplantation in High-Risk LeukemiaA new study suggests that the outcome of bone marrow transplantation in some children diagnosed with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can be improved. | Advertisement
|
Advertisement
Recommended Readings
Latest Cancer News
The new study uncovers the efficacy of fixed-duration combination treatment in patients with high-risk leukemia.
The approvals of pipeline drugs such as momelotinib and Vonjo for myelofibrosis (a rare type of blood cancer) over some time will handle the critical unmet needs.
New study highlights the dual role that blood vessels can play in cancer immunotherapy and eliciting anti-tumor immune responses or even preventing breast cancer spread.
New study evaluated the association between exposure to the chemical agent orange and the development of blood cancer with increased bleeding and blood clot formation.
Study suggests two-year immunotherapy treatment for advanced lung cancer may be reasonable