A New Approach To Cure Leukemia

Friday, March 5, 2010, 13:59

The studies being conducted on how cancer cells become 'addicted' to genes, can prevent the disease cells from developing, reveals the scientists.

The acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) can be caused by a fusion protein called Bcr-Abl, which is created through the joining of two or more genes originally code d for separate proteins. These joining of the genes cause a complex tumor, which supports the development of leukemia cells.

The inhibitor drugs like 'Imatinib' can block the vital signals and lead to the inhibition of leukemia cells. But there are several mutations like Stat3 and Stat5, which can resist these inhibitors and making them ineffective.

Scientists tested whether Stat3 and Stat5 can be an alternative target for treatment. They could find out that both these factors are required for the development of Bcr-Abl but Stat5 is crucial for the survival and growth of cancer cells, once they are established. This gene dependency is called Non-Oncogene Addiction (NOA). If the critical gene Stat5 is inhibited before the signaling network is predicted, we can prevent the hazardous disease. This findings can become a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of leukemia.

This study has been reported in EMBO Molecular Medicine.