Leukemia News and Research

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Leukemia (Leukaemia) is a cancer of the blood cells. It is the most common type of blood cancer and affects 10 times as many adults as children. Most people diagnosed with leukemia are over 50 years old. No one knows why some people develop leukemia and others do not. However, scientists have identified some risk factors for the disease. Most people who have known risk factors do not get leukemia, while many who do get the disease have none of these risk factors. During the early stages of leukemia, there may be no symptoms. Many of the symptoms of leukemia don't become apparent until a large number of normal blood cells are crowded out by leukemia cells.

New study highlights risks of anti-ERBB2 cancer drugs during pregnancy

Study finds that anti-ERBB2 inhibitors used in breast cancer treatment pose significant risks to pregnancy and fetal health, including higher likelihoods of congenital defects and intrauterine growth restriction. Researchers recommend careful monitoring and possibly discontinuing these drugs during pregnancy despite their effectiveness against cancer.

29 Oct 2023

Blood test detects cancer earlier in individuals with Li-Fraumeni syndrome

Researchers from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and University Health Network (UHN) have demonstrated that by analyzing patients' blood samples, they are able to detect cancer earlier in individuals with Li-Fraumeni syndrome, an inherited condition with an almost 100 percent life-time risk of developing cancer.

24 Oct 2023

Researchers discover new way to trigger programmed cell death in cancer cells

A research team from the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has identified a crucial epitope (a protein section that can activate the larger protein) on the CD95 receptor that can cause cells to die.

24 Oct 2023

Strengthening the immune system to fight cytomegalovirus on its own

Some viruses can be dormant throughout a person's life and cause no harm but become dangerous when the immune system is weakened.

17 Oct 2023

Engineered bacteria deliver synthetic targets to solid tumors

For several years, researchers have been successfully using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to target specific antigens found on blood cells as a cure for patients with leukemia and lymphoma.

12 Oct 2023

Bio-inspired drug restores the effectiveness of immune cells in fighting cancer

A new, bio-inspired drug restores the effectiveness of immune cells in fighting cancer, a team led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin has found.

9 Oct 2023

Gut health and leukemia: Exploring the crucial connection between diet and microbiota changes

Gut microbiota's role in leukemia treatment responses is explored, with evidence suggesting diet and prebiotics may help manage microbiota alterations in patients. Diet during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and gut microbiota composition all intersect, potentially influencing leukemia risks and treatment outcomes.

8 Oct 2023

Research opens the door for better use of people's own immune system T cells to fight cancer

Using laboratory-grown cells from humans and genetically engineered mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have evidence that modifying a specific protein in immune white blood cells known as CD8+ T cells can make the cells more robust, potentially opening the door for better use of people's own immune system T cells to fight cancer.

3 Oct 2023

Identification of Alzheimer's disease-associated micro-RNA biomarkers through network-based analysis

Micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) linked to cognition and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

3 Oct 2023

As covid infections rise, nursing homes are still waiting for vaccines

"Covid is not pretty in a nursing home," said Deb Wityk, a 70-year-old retired massage therapist who lives in one called Spurgeon Manor, in rural Iowa. She twice contracted the disease and is eager to get the newly approved vaccine because she has chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which weakens her immune system.

27 Sep 2023

Gene-silencer study could pave the way for novel cancer therapeutics

Deep inside our cells-;each one complete with an identical set of genes-;a molecular machine known as PRC2 plays a critical role in determining which cells become heart cells, versus brain or muscle or skin cells.

26 Sep 2023

Does arsenic exposure cause mortality due to cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and congenital anomalies?

The association between arsenic exposure due to groundwater contamination and mortality rates.

21 Sep 2023

St. Jude Children's researchers better define hyperdiploidy in childhood B-ALL

Hyperdiploidy is a genetic condition observed in cancer cells, where the cells contain more chromosomes than usual.

20 Sep 2023

Annual NCCN Congress to focus on latest advances in blood cancer treatment

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network 2023 Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies returns to San Francisco this week, for the first time since 2019.

19 Sep 2023

Purdue researcher receives $1.38 million to fight against drug-resistant malaria in developing countries

A Purdue researcher is taking a giant leap forward in the fight against drug-resistant strains of malaria in developing countries.

15 Sep 2023

Chemotherapy drug could be repurposed to treat fatal heart failure, computer model suggests

A chemotherapy drug used to fight bone-marrow cancer also has the potential to treat and prevent potentially deadly heart failure, a powerful new drug-screening tool developed at UVA Health suggests.

15 Sep 2023

A combination of inhibitors may suppress tumor growth and prevent cancer relapse

An international team of researchers has demonstrated that a combination of inhibitors may suppress tumor growth and prevent relapse in patients with certain cancers, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma.

12 Sep 2023

Study reports an increase in incidence of islet autoimmunity after SARS-CoV-2 infection in young children

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease leading to an impaired glucose metabolism and requires life-long administration of insulin.

8 Sep 2023

Vitamin C and D supplementation may reduce AML treatment complications

Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who received vitamin C and D supplements while undergoing intensive chemotherapy had lower rates of complications, such as infections, bleeding, and inflammation, when compared with similar, previously treated patients who did not receive these supplements.

7 Sep 2023

Chronic inflammation's influence on TP53 mutations in leukemia evolution explored in new study

Researchers performed a multi-omics evaluation of HSPCs obtained from individuals with myeloproliferative neoplasms transforming to TP53-related secondary forms of acute myeloid leukemia.