New treatments for acute myeloid leukemia have been discovered

Advances in drug sensitivity and resistance to rapid screening of leukemia cells have brought scientists closer to tailor-made treatments for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
of drug reactions to leukemia stem cells can reveal why some treatment attempts have been unsuccessful or why promising treatment outcomes have not been sustained.
AML is a serious disease of certain blood-forming cells. In this disease, some early prescellular cells in the bone marrow, which usually develop into white blood cells, do not mature properly. They are still frozen as primitive cells, called embryo cells, that cannot be further differentiated and matured. These can accumulate and lead to low blood cell counts, reduced resistance to infection, and low plateplate counts, leading to a life-threatening risk of bleeding.
leukemia stem cells - the ancestral cells of immature cancer cells - reproduce AML and play a role in the recurrence of cancer after treatment. Cancer researchers are interested in the expression of genes in this cell population because the data may provide clues to resistance to standard therapies and answers to the causes of relapse in some patients.
, published today at the 60th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego, examined drug response patterns for stem cells and embryo cells extracted from individual patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. This information is collected through high-volume screening, a state-of-the-art method for quickly evaluating and testing many samples.
researchers found that leukemia stem cells and embryo cells have different drug sensitivity patterns, and these patterns vary from patient to patient.
, for example, embryo cells respond to the drugs most commonly used to treat patients in tests, but none are effective for leukemia stem cells. The researchers did find that 12 drugs from eight categories appeared to prioritize leukemia stem cells over explosive cells. Many of these are not often used in patients with this type of cancer.
multidisciplinary team for the project includes stem cell biologists, hematologists, oncologists, pathologists, computer scientists, drug developers, and more.
researcher is dr. Pamela Becker, a hematologist and 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 blood disease patients at the Seattle Cancer Treatment Alliance.
in a laboratory study, the researchers compared the drug sensitivity of embryo cells and stem cell groups in the same six patients. In doing so, they tested a customized set of drugs on cells, targeted drugs and drug combinations, and genetically analyzed 194 mutations. The team includes FDA approval and research of drugs.
unique drug sensitivity patterns observed in leukemia stem cells and embryonic cells are leading scientists to hope to develop patient-specific methods for acute myeloid leukemia, with the aim of improving outcomes for people with this form of blood cancer.
source: Potential see for tailoring treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (Bio Valley)