New discovery points to a new treatment avenue for acute myeloid leukemia

July 6, 2009

Dr. 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 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."

More information: The research paper Monoclonal Antibody-Mediated Targeting of CD123, IL-3 Receptor α Chain, Eliminates Human Acute Myeloid Leukemic Stem Cells was published in Cell Stem Cell July 2, 2009.

Source: University Health Network


Rank not rated yet
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Exercise and weight loss
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
    createdFeb 07, 2012
  • "The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Oncolytic adenovirus
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Nutrition label stuffs and diets
    createdFeb 02, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences

More news stories

Curry spice component may help slow prostate tumor growth

Curcumin, an active component of the Indian curry spice turmeric, may help slow down tumor growth in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), a study from researchers ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created 44 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Antidepressants and pregnancy: Women must consider the impact of drugs on baby, and of depression on baby, themselves

Upon learning they are pregnant, most women dutifully nix the alcohol, sushi and caffeine. But what about antidepressants?

Medicine & Health / Medications

created 4 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Arthritic knees, but not hips, have robust repair response

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center used new tools they developed to analyze knees and hips and discovered that osteoarthritic knee joints are in a constant state of repair, while hip joints are not.

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created 54 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

To avoid early labor and delivery, weight and diet changes not the answer

One of the strongest known risk factors for spontaneous or unexpected preterm birth – any birth that occurs before the 37th week of pregnancy, most often without a known cause – is already having had one. For women ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created 1 hour ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Team isolates nerve cells involved in storing long term memory and gene proteins associated with them

(Medical Xpress) -- A research team in Taiwan has succeeded in isolating two nerve cells in fruit fly brains that are believed to be the major players in allowing for the formation of long term memories. Furthermore, ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created 1 hour ago | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast report


Netflix light on flicks as viewers soak up TV shows

Like most fresh faces that arrive in Hollywood, Netflix wanted to be a movie star. But now it's learning what many in Tinseltown have known for decades: Movies are sexy, but the real money is in television.

Sony's Hirai refuses to abandon dire TV business

Struggling Japanese entertainment giant Sony will not abandon its cash-bleeding television business, its incoming CEO says, but he acknowledges tough decisions lie ahead including over redundancies.

The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males

A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest ...

Fool's gold may prove an unlikely alternative to overexploited catalytic materials

Catalytic materials, which lower the energy barriers for chemical reactions, are used in everything from the commercial production of chemicals to catalytic converters in car engines. However, with current catalytic materials ...

Experts reveal how plants don't get sunburn

(PhysOrg.com) -- Experts at the University of Glasgow have discovered how plants survive the harmful rays of the sun.

Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago

(PhysOrg.com) -- Large areas of rainforests in Central Africa mysteriously disappeared over three thousand years ago, to be replaced by savannas. The prevailing theory has been that the cause was a change ...