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Toronto researcher's discovery points to a new treatment avenue for acute myeloid leukemia
July 07, 2009Dr. John Dick, Senior Scientist at the Ontario Cancer Institute, the research arm of Princess Margaret Hospital, co-led a multinational team that has developed the first leukemia therapy that targets a protein, CD123, on the surface of cancer stem cells that drive acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which is an aggressive disease with a poor outcome.
Dr. Richard Lock is leading the clinical trial in Australia that expands on research suggesting that antibodies targeting cancer stem cells significantly reduced the growth of human AML cells that had been transplanted into immune-deficient mice, a laboratory model that mimics the human disease, establishing the therapeutic potential of this type of therapy.
Dr. Tom Hudson, President and Scientific Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) congratulated Dr. Dick, who is the Program Leader of OICR's Cancer Stem Cell Program. Dr. Hudson said, "John Dick has made remarkable progress in the understanding of what initiates and sustains cancer. Together with his collaborators Dr. Dick has developed the first anti-cancer monoclonal antibody therapy that specifically targets cancer stem cells. This discovery offers hope for the development of treatments that target the cancer stem cells of other types of tumours as well."
"This is precisely the role we envisioned for the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research when the McGuinty government created it back in 2005," said Minister of Research and Innovation John Milloy. "Bringing together this province's considerable strengths around cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment is helping Ontario lead the fight against this terrible disease."
The research on AML builds on the discovery by Dr. Dick that there is a population of cells within cancer, termed cancer stem cells, which are responsible for sustaining cancer growth. Their earlier research had shown that cancer stem cells are often resistant to standard chemotherapy and since they survive such therapy, they can eventually cause a recurrence of the disease.
The antibody targets the CD123 protein (IL-3 receptor α chain) on the cancer stem cells that drive cancer growth. The antibody does not appear to affect normal blood cells. On the basis of this experimental work, a Phase I clinical trial has been initiated to test safety and effectiveness in patients.
"The cancer stem cell hypothesis is one of the most exciting ideas in cancer biology, with the potential to truly transform cancer therapy. A major question has been whether agents could be developed that specifically target these cells without affecting normal stem cells," said Dr. Benjamin Neel, Director of the Ontario Cancer Institute. "The work of Drs. Dick and Lock provides the first evidence that such therapies may be possible."
University Health Network
"This is precisely the role we envisioned for the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research when the McGuinty government created it back in 2005," said Minister of Research and Innovation John Milloy. "Bringing together this province's considerable strengths around cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment is helping Ontario lead the fight against this terrible disease."
The research on AML builds on the discovery by Dr. Dick that there is a population of cells within cancer, termed cancer stem cells, which are responsible for sustaining cancer growth. Their earlier research had shown that cancer stem cells are often resistant to standard chemotherapy and since they survive such therapy, they can eventually cause a recurrence of the disease.
The antibody targets the CD123 protein (IL-3 receptor α chain) on the cancer stem cells that drive cancer growth. The antibody does not appear to affect normal blood cells. On the basis of this experimental work, a Phase I clinical trial has been initiated to test safety and effectiveness in patients.
"The cancer stem cell hypothesis is one of the most exciting ideas in cancer biology, with the potential to truly transform cancer therapy. A major question has been whether agents could be developed that specifically target these cells without affecting normal stem cells," said Dr. Benjamin Neel, Director of the Ontario Cancer Institute. "The work of Drs. Dick and Lock provides the first evidence that such therapies may be possible."
University Health Network
Acute Myeloid Leukemia Current Events and Acute Myeloid Leukemia News RSSU of M researchers find 2 units of umbilical cord blood reduce risk of leukemia recurrence
A new study from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota shows that patients who have acute leukemia and are transplanted with two units of umbilical cord blood (UCB) have significantly reduced risk of the disease returning.
First use of antibody and stem cell transplantation to successfully treat advanced leukemia
For the first time, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have reported the use of a radiolabeled antibody to deliver targeted doses of radiation, followed by a stem cell transplant, to successfully treat a group of leukemia and pre-leukemia patients for whom there previously had been no other curative treatment options.
Van Andel Institute Researchers Find Gene that Could Lead to New Therapies for Bone Marrow Disease
Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) researchers are one step closer to finding new ways to treat Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a bone marrow disease that strikes up to 15,000 people each year in the United States, and that sometimes results in acute myeloid leukemia.
Anemic Patients With MDS Gain Long-Term Benefits From Erythropoietin and Myeloid Growth Factor Hormones
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a group of blood disorders that can lead to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in some patients, often cause severe anemia (when the body lacks a sufficient number of functional red blood cells).
Comprehensive look at rare leukemia finds relatively few genetic changes launch disease
The most comprehensive analysis yet of the genome of childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) found only a few mistakes in the genetic blueprint, suggesting the cancer arises from just a handful of missteps.
Stripping leukemia-initiating cells of their 'invisibility cloak'
Two new studies reveal a way to increase the body's appetite for gobbling up the cancer stem cells responsible for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a form of cancer with a particularly poor survival rate.
Novel epigenetic markers of melanoma may herald new treatments for patients
Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer, diagnosed in more than 50,000 new patients in the United States annually. While the rate of incidences continues to rise, survival rate has not improved and the race is on to find the genetic and cellular changes driving melanoma and to devise new means of detection and treatment.
Novel therapy may prove effective in treatment of 30 percent of cancers
A ground-breaking Canada-wide clinical trial led by Dr. Katherine Borden, at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal, has shown that a common anti-viral drug, ribavirin, can be beneficial in the treatment of cancer patients.
Researchers find drug that inhibits acute leukemia cell growth
Researchers from the Children's Cancer Hospital at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have discovered how to turn off a certain receptor that promotes the growth of leukemia cells.
A miR boost enables acute leukemia cells to mature
A new study by Ohio State University cancer researchers shows that boosting the level of a molecule called miR-29b in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells can reverse gene changes that trap the cells in an immature, fast growing state of development.
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