Promising inhibitor combination for hard-to-treat leukemia subtypes
Researchers from Penn Vet and other institutions have identified a novel inhibitor combination of molecules that induce terminal differentiation for the treatment of human non-APL subtypes of AML.
2 min. read
In a new study co-authored by assistant professor of biomedical sciences at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine M. Andrés Blanco, along with investigators from the Universities of Oxford, Helsinki, and California at San Diego, researchers have identified a promising strategy to overcome treatment resistance in acute myeloid luekemia (AML), one of the most aggressive forms of blood cancer.
Andrés Blanco is an assistant professor of biomedical science at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine.
(Image: John Donges)
AML occurs when bone marrow produces substantial amounts of abnormal white blood cells. Differentiation therapy, a cancer treatment that prompts cancer cells to become less aggressive thereby reducing or stopping their proliferation, is curative for the acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) subtype of AML, but not for the other eight non-APL subtypes.
The novel inhibitor combination of histone demethylase LSD1 and glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) induce terminal differentiation for the treatment of human non-APL subtypes of AML.
“These findings present a potential new avenue for differentiation therapy in AML subtypes that have resisted such approaches,” says Blanco. “This study provides a compelling rationale for testing dual LSD1 and GSK-3 inhibition as a therapeutic technique for humans with non-APL AML subtypes, offering hope for better outcomes with this disease.”
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