New lab test could identify imatinib resistance

PHILADELPHIA — Scientists in Japan may have developed a way to accurately predict those patients who will resist treatment with imatinib, which is the standard of care for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

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Discovered mechanism suggests possible treatment strategy for aggressive leukemias

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have identified a mechanism that could explain how patients move into the worst phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).

This same molecular pathway may also be related to other aggressive leukemias, as well as solid tumors like glioblastoma (a severe form of brain cancer) and breast cancer.

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Stem cell transplantation of therapy-resistant chronic leukemia successful

Almost 50 percent of patients without even minimal residual disease/Study led by hematologists from Heidelberg published in Blood

The transplantation of stem cells from a healthy donor (allogeneic) offers the chance of cure for patients with an aggressive form of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), irrespective of genetic prognostic factors and the prior course of the disease. The German CLL Study Group proved this in a multicentric clinical phase II study led by Professor Dr. Peter Dreger, senior consultant and head of the division of stem cell transplantation at the Department of Internal Medicine V at Heidelberg University Hospital. The results were published online in the prominent journal “Blood” at the beginning of July.

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Protein that predicts prognosis of leukemia patients may also be a therapeutic target

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (July 8, 2010) – Researchers at Whitehead Institute and Children’s Hospital Boston have identified a protein, called Musashi 2, that is predictive of prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients.

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Patients with treatment-resistant CLL respond positively to stem cell transplants

(WASHINGTON, July 1, 2010) – Allogeneic (donor-derived) stem cell transplant (alloSCT) may be a promising option for patients with treatment-resistant chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), regardless of the patient’s underlying genetic abnormalities, according to the results of a study published online today in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology. About 15,000 new CLL cases were diagnosed in the United States in 2009 and about 4,000 deaths were documented (according to the American Cancer Society). While survival rates for leukemia have generally improved in the last decade, patients with rare, more aggressive forms of CLL do not respond well to standard chemotherapy-based and targeted treatments and often die within a few years of diagnosis.

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CSHL team shows how loss of key protein promotes aggressive form of leukemia

p53 loss promotes acute myeloid leukemia by enabling aberrant self-renewal of myeloid precursors

Cold Spring Harbor, NY – New research by scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has illuminated in fine detail one of the genetic paths that leads to a particularly aggressive form of leukemia.

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Second-line CML drugs evoke faster, better front-line remissions

Contact: Scott Merville
smerville@mdanderson.org
713-792-0661
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Read more

Second-line CML drug evokes faster response, fewer side effects, pivotal study finds

Contact: Laura Sussman
lsussman@mdanderson.org
832-264-8893
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Read more

Gene loss causes leukemia

Researchers from VIB and K.U.Leuven, both in Flanders, Belgium, have discovered a new factor in the development of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a disease that mainly affects children. In the cells of the patients, the specific gene PTPN2 ceases to function, causing the cancer cells to survive longer and grow faster. The study provides genetic and functional evidence for a tumor suppressor role of PTPN2. The research was carried out in close cooperation with scientists from the Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris. Understanding the causes of leukemia is important for the development of new targeted therapies. The results appear in the journal Nature Genetics. Read more

Combination therapy targets stubborn leukemia stem cells

Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
New research discovers a combination of drugs that may prove to be a more effective treatment for a lethal form of leukemia. The study, published by Cell Press in the May issue of the journal Cancer Cell, reports that the new therapeutic strategy effectively targets notoriously intractable leukemia stem cells that often escape standard treatment and are a main factor in disease relapse.

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