Cure Possible for One Type of Leukiema

Cure  Possible for One Type of Leukiema

This article is a reproduction from the Bangor Dailey News, June 11, 2009.  It was shown to  Doctors at Wilmot Cancer Center two weeks ago.  Last week, it was  reviewed by  a Dr. of Eastern Medicine in Rochester, New York.  She is affiliated with Sloan Kettering, and practitioner of Eastern Medicine.  It was  also shared this with a friend , who works in a research lab for major drug companies in the New Jersey area.  She did a bit of  research for me, and discussed the  validity of this study with associates who concluded that the research is promising;  She added that the Doctors, conducting  the studies are reputable.  This study was  also shared with a friend who takes 800ml of Gleevec  per day.  He is diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia(CML). I will continue to follow-up on this promising  research.    

Bangor Daily News

June 11, 2009

Cure Possible for One Type of Leukemia

A physician and researcher  affiliated with The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor says he may have identified a cure for the most common form a human leukemia. Dr. Shaoguang Li, now conducting research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, has identified a specific gene that supports the development of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, as well as a drug treatment that targets that gene to short-circuit the proliferation of leukemic blood cells.  In a telephone interview Tuesday, Li said that results of his study, published in the current issue of the journal Natural Genetics, is good news for victims of chronic myeloid leukemia.  “The power of this strategy is for curing the disease, not just controlling it, “Li said.  The gene, called Alox5 , allows leukemia-production stems cells to develop and proliferate,  Li said.  In research at The Jackson Laboratory, Li studied mice that had been specially bred to lack the Alox5 gene.

“If you remove the gene from a mouse, you don’t see leukemia develop,” he said. That’s because Alox5 is somehow tied to the development of cancer stem cells, the precursors to leukemia, he said.  Li also studied normal mice with leukemia, targeting the Alox5 gene with the drug Zileuton, which is approved for treating asthma.  Zileuton successfully blocked the gene’s production of an enzyme that turns cancer stem cells into full-blown leukemia cells.“When you block the gene’s function by using the drug…you’re going to be leukemia-free, ”Li said.

Mice treated with a combination of Zileuton and Gleevec, the most effective treatment currently available for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, fared even better than mice treated with either medication alone.  Li and Zileuton must now be studied in human clinical trials before it can be prescribed for leukemia patients.  “A lot of patients will be interested in participating in those trials, he forecast.  “This is for a cure.” Already ,  he said, he has been contacted by the father of a young leukemia patients about participating in a clinical trial.  The drug’s current approval for use in treating asthma should fast-track the clinical studies, he said, but he declined to speculate a timeline. Li said there are larger implications as well.

“Now we know we can target cancer stem cells without damaging other stem cells,” he said. “Without this gene, normal blood can be produced, but the leukemia disappears.” 

In a news release issued earlier this week, The Jackson Laboratory said it is seeking “patent protection” on the treatment developed by Li and his research colleges at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at the Harvard Medical School. 

Li, who retains adjunct professor status at The Jackson Laboratory, said the Bar Harbor lab could “benefit a great deal” for his research findings. 

Wilmot Cancer Center is celebrating their 2000^th bone marrow transplant. Bone Marrow transplants are a painful substitution to pharmaceutical alternatives.  Gleevec, a break-through drug marketed by Novatis, is the premier drug utilized by CML sufferers. Gleevec can costs individuals, or insurance companies as much as $4000.00-$8000.00 per month.  Patients, without drug coverage, are in dire circumstances.  Some next-generation chemo-therapy alternatives are now on the market for CML.  Side affects vary by drug and individual.  Bone-marrow transplants are not always an option.   Only people who have perfect  bone marrow matches,  are candidates for transplant.  Bone marrow matches are difficult to find.

To individuals suffering from  all types of cancer,  this study is truly great news.  I will be contacting the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard to follow-up on this research over the next few months. 

–Mary Clare