Medical Network December 12 News The rapid advances in drug sensitivity and drug resistance of leukemia cells have brought scientists closer to customized treatment for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Studies of the drug response to leukemia stem cells can reveal why some treatment attempts were unsuccessful or why the initial promising treatment outcome could not be maintained.
AML is a serious disease of certain blood-forming cells. In this disease, certain early precursor cells that normally develop into white blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature properly. They are still frozen into primordial cells, called blasts, which cannot be further differentiated and matured. These can accumulate and result in low blood cell counts, reduced ability to fight infection, and low platelet counts, leading to life-threatening bleeding risks.
Leukemia stem cells - progenitor cells of immature cancer cells - reproduce AML and play a role in cancer recurrence after treatment. Cancer researchers are interested in the way genes are expressed in this cell population, as these data may provide clues to the resistance of standard therapies and are the answer to some patients' recurrence.
A study published at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego investigated the drug response patterns of stem cells and blasts extracted from individual patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. This information is collected through high-throughput screening, a state-of-the-art method for quickly evaluating and testing many samples.
The researchers found that the drug sensitivity patterns of leukemia stem cells and blast cells are different, and these patterns vary from patient to patient.
For example, blast cells respond to the drugs most commonly used to treat patients in the test, but none are effective against leukemia stem cells. The researchers did find that 12 drugs from eight categories appeared to target leukemia stem cells preferentially compared to blast cells. Many of these are not often used in patients with such cancers.
The project's multidisciplinary team includes stem cell biologists, hematologists, oncologists , pathologists, computer scientists, and drug developers.
The senior researcher is Dr. Pamela Becker, a hematologist who is a professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine. She is also a scientist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Wisconsin Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute, and sees patients with blood diseases in the Seattle Cancer Therapy Alliance.
In a laboratory study, the researchers compared the drug susceptibility of the blasts and stem cell populations of the same six patients. In doing so, they tested a set of customized drugs on the cells, targeted drugs and drug combinations, and genetically analyzed 194 mutations. The team includes FDA approved and research drugs.
The unique drug susceptibility patterns observed in leukemia stem cells and blasts are leading scientists to develop patient-specific approaches to acute myeloid leukemia with the goal of improving the outcome of people with this form of blood cancer.
Information Source: Potential seen for tailoring treatment for acute myeloid leukemia
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