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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : May 1, 2014 6:49 PM IST
Researchers have developed a novel and unique approach to treating Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), a form of blood cancer that often requires repeated chemotherapy treatments to which it grows resistant. The researchers, led by Alexey V. Danilov, MD, PhD, assistant professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and Hematologist-Oncologist at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, modeled the lymph node microenvironment where CLL cells are found in the laboratory. (Read: Coming soon an effective method to beat leukaemia with your own immune system!)
They were able to disrupt the activity of a pathway (NF-kappaB) that ensures the survival and resistance of the CLL cells in such microenvironments. Danilov said that in this in-vitro microenvironment, we used MLN4924 to disrupt the activity of the NF-kappaB pathway by targeting Nedd8, which controls activation of NF-kappaB, asserting that this decreased the survival of CLL cells and re-sensitized them to conventional chemotherapy as well as novel agents. Because the CLL cells used were obtained from patients with this disorder, these findings are immediately relevant to the clinic. (Read: Soon, leukemia could be treated with artificial bone marrow developed in Germany!)
Danilov says that unlike other novel therapies that have shown promise in the treatment of CLL, this approach is unique because it does not directly target proteins within the B-cell receptor pathway. He also notes that other research models that mimic the natural lymph node microenvironment have typically induced prolonged survival of CLL cells and made them resistant to in vitro chemotherapy. This research used novel model systems which reversed the pro-survival effects of the microenvironment. (Read: Treatment of leukemia Pills to replace chemotherapy?)
The study has been published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
What is leukaemia?
White blood cells (leukocytes) form part of the body's immune system and help defend the body against infection. Cancer of these blood cells is known as leukaemia, commonly called 'blood cancer'. Based on the type of white blood cells that are affected and the rate at which they develop leukaemia is classified as acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). CML is the commonest adult leukaemia in India. (Read: Leukaemia the blood cancer)
With inputs from ANI
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