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.

Secondary cancers in melanoma patients treated for BRAF gene mutation require new strategies

Moffitt Cancer Center researchers suggest secondary cancers seen in melanoma patients who are being treated for a BRAF gene mutation may require new strategies, such as enhanced surveillance and combining BRAF-inhibitor therapy with other inhibitors, especially as they become more widely used.

17 Aug 2013

Study suggests that about 70% of total Alzheimer's risk is hereditary

Alzheimer's, and intervene to reduce the risk of the disease? We may be closer to that goal, thanks to a team at the University of Kentucky. Researchers affiliated with the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging have completed new work in Alzheimer's genetics; the research is detailed in a paper published today in the Journal of Neuroscience.

16 Aug 2013

Virus-derived particles developed to kill human blood cancer cells, eradicate disease in mice

Ottawa researchers have developed unique virus-derived particles that can kill human blood cancer cells in the laboratory and eradicate the disease in mice with few side effects. The study is published in Blood Cancer Journal by co-senior authors Drs. David Conrad and John Bell of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).

14 Aug 2013

Research suggests blocking DNA repair complex helps fight therapy-resistant leukemia

New research posted online by the Nature journal Leukemia suggests blocking part of a DNA repair complex that helps some types of leukemia resist treatment can increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy and enhance survival.

9 Aug 2013

High mobility group (HMG) genes and cancer: an interview with Dr. Linda Resar, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

High mobility group A genes are highly expressed in all aggressive cancers studied to date. These genes encode the high mobility group A (HMGA) proteins. In other words, these genes provide the genetic “code” necessary to produce HMGA proteins.

8 Aug 2013

Researchers unveil comprehensive portrait of the genome of world's first immortal cell line

A team from the University of Washington has unveiled a comprehensive portrait of the genome of the world's first immortal cell line, known as HeLa. The cell line was derived in 1951 from an aggressive cervical cancer that killed Henrietta Lacks, a 31-year-old African-American tobacco farmer and mother of five - the subject of the 2010 New York Times bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

8 Aug 2013

Brain tumor cells in arrested development contribute to cell variety that protects cancer

A program that pushes immature cells to grow up and fulfill their destiny as useful, dedicated cells is short-circuited in the most common and deadly form of brain tumor, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

8 Aug 2013

Cancer-linked mitosis: an interview with Professor Scott Kern, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Mitosis is the process by which a cell gives rise to two daughter cells. It’s the basis behind the growth of the human body, the renewal of the human body as it ages, and unfortunately, the growth of cancers.

7 Aug 2013

Autologous tumor cell vaccination: An effective strategy to advance long-term leukemia control

Patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia often receive donor transplants that effectively "reboot" their own immune defenses, which then attack and potentially cure the hard-to-treat disease. However, there is a high rate of relapse in these patients, and the transplanted immune cells may also harm normal tissues, causing graft-versus-host disease.

7 Aug 2013

Study reveals nearly 40% of tumors are caused by viruses

The results of a large-scale analysis of the association between DNA viruses and human malignancies suggest that many of the most common cancers are not associated with DNA viruses.

6 Aug 2013

Tumor cell vaccination has potential to enhance anti-tumor responses following allo-HSCT

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow that most often affects older adults. CLL responds to bone marrow stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT); however, the rate of relapse for CLL remains relatively high.

6 Aug 2013

Novel way to dramatically raise potency of drug candidates targeting RNA

Scientists from the Jupiter campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have shown a novel way to dramatically raise the potency of drug candidates targeting RNA, resulting in a 2,500-fold improvement in potency and significantly increasing their potential as therapeutic agents.

6 Aug 2013

Columbia researchers identify 18 new genes that drive glioblastoma multiforme

A team of researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center has identified 18 new genes responsible for driving glioblastoma multiforme, the most common-and most aggressive-form of brain cancer in adults. The study was published August 5, 2013, in Nature Genetics.

6 Aug 2013

BioLineRx reports positive results from pre-clinical trials with RHB-104 for treatment of thrombocytopenia

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today that BL-8040 has been shown in pre-clinical trials to be effective for the treatment of thrombocytopenia, or reduced platelet production.

5 Aug 2013

Specific mutations in FLT3 receptor can contribute to acute myeloid leukemia

Specific mutations (N676K) in the FLT3 receptor can contribute to the development of acute myeloid leukemia. The FLT3 receptor regulates cell growth, while activating gene mutations promote the uncontrolled proliferation of white blood cells. These findings were reported in the specialist journal Blood by a group of scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Hospital of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich as part of a clinical research collaboration with the German Cancer Consortium.

3 Aug 2013

ImmunoGen reports net loss of $21.9 million in Q4 2013

ImmunoGen, Inc., a biotechnology company that develops anticancer therapeutics using its Targeted Antibody Payload antibody-drug conjugate technology, today reported financial results for the three-month period and fiscal year ended June 30, 2013. ImmunoGen also provided guidance for its 2014 fiscal year and an update on the Company.

2 Aug 2013

Study offers new hope for treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Researchers have discovered how an experimental drug is capable of completely eradicating human lymphoma in mice after just five doses. The study, led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, sets the stage for testing the drug in clinical trials of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, itself the seventh most frequently diagnosed cancer in the U.S.

2 Aug 2013

Researchers reveal location of human blood stem cells that may improve bone marrow transplants

McMaster University researchers have revealed the location of human blood stem cells that may improve bone marrow transplants. The best stem cells are at the ends of the bone.

2 Aug 2013

Finding could influence effectiveness of bone marrow transplants for late-stage leukemia

Eight years ago, two former Stanford University postdoctoral fellows, one of them still in California and the other at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Cambridge, began exchanging theories about why patients with leukemia stop producing healthy blood cells. What was it, they asked, that caused bone marrow to stop producing normal blood-producing cells?

1 Aug 2013

NIH-funded study finds that rituximab is as effective as standard therapy for severe vasculitis

Administering the drug rituximab once weekly for one month provides the same benefits as 18 months of daily immunosuppressive therapy in people with severe forms of vasculitis, or inflammation of the blood vessels, a study has found.

1 Aug 2013

Leukemia News and Research

Further Reading

Secondary cancers in melanoma patients treated for BRAF gene mutation require new strategies

Study suggests that about 70% of total Alzheimer's risk is hereditary

Virus-derived particles developed to kill human blood cancer cells, eradicate disease in mice

Research suggests blocking DNA repair complex helps fight therapy-resistant leukemia

High mobility group (HMG) genes and cancer: an interview with Dr. Linda Resar, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Researchers unveil comprehensive portrait of the genome of world's first immortal cell line

Brain tumor cells in arrested development contribute to cell variety that protects cancer

Cancer-linked mitosis: an interview with Professor Scott Kern, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Autologous tumor cell vaccination: An effective strategy to advance long-term leukemia control

Study reveals nearly 40% of tumors are caused by viruses

Tumor cell vaccination has potential to enhance anti-tumor responses following allo-HSCT

Novel way to dramatically raise potency of drug candidates targeting RNA

Columbia researchers identify 18 new genes that drive glioblastoma multiforme

BioLineRx reports positive results from pre-clinical trials with RHB-104 for treatment of thrombocytopenia

Specific mutations in FLT3 receptor can contribute to acute myeloid leukemia

ImmunoGen reports net loss of $21.9 million in Q4 2013

Study offers new hope for treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Researchers reveal location of human blood stem cells that may improve bone marrow transplants

Finding could influence effectiveness of bone marrow transplants for late-stage leukemia

NIH-funded study finds that rituximab is as effective as standard therapy for severe vasculitis

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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