Acute Myeloid Leukemia News and Research

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Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is a rapidly progressing cancer of the blood characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of immature blast cells in the bone marrow. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society estimates that over 13,000 new cases of AML were diagnosed and approximately 9,000 deaths from AML occurred in the U.S. during 2007. AML is generally a disease of older adults, and the median age of a patient diagnosed with AML is about 67 years. A majority of elderly patients are not considered candidates for standard induction therapy or decline therapy, resulting in an acute need for new treatment options.

CHLA pediatric oncologist receives Hyundai Hope on Wheels grant

Weili Sun, MD, PhD, a pediatric oncologist at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, was awarded $75,000 by the Hyundai Hope on Wheels program. She will use this money to further her research into the role of epigenetics in cancer.

28 Jun 2012

KPT-SINEs might offer new treatment for people with acute leukemia

A novel family of experimental agents that blocks a molecule from shuttling proteins out of the cell nucleus might offer a new treatment for people with acute leukemia, according to a study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

20 Jun 2012

UW initiates enrollment in tosedostat phase II combination study for AML, MDS

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that the University of Washington has begun enrolling patients in a randomized phase II study testing the combination of tosedostat with either cytarabine or decitabine for elderly patients with newly-diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia ("AML") or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome.

18 Jun 2012

$Ambit, Astellas commence quizartinib Phase 2b trial in relapsed/refractory AML$

Ambit, Astellas commence quizartinib Phase 2b trial in relapsed/refractory AML

Astellas Pharma Inc. and Ambit Biosciences Corporation today announced the initiation of a Phase 2b open-label clinical trial of quizartinib as monotherapy in patients with relapsed and refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with FLT3-ITD mutations.

5 Jun 2012

America's biopharmaceutical researchers work on many new approaches to fight cancer

America's biopharmaceutical research companies are testing 981 medicines and vaccines to fight the many types of cancer affecting millions of patients worldwide, according to a report released today by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

2 Jun 2012

Distinctive protein pathways in certain leukemia patients

Scientists at Rice University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have successfully profiled protein pathways found to be distinctive to leukemia patients with particular variants of the disease.

1 Jun 2012

JTCC to present latest findings in blood-cancer research at ASCO annual meeting

Physicians and researchers at John Theurer Cancer Center at HackensackUMC, one of the nation's top 50 cancer centers, will present the latest findings in blood-cancer research at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago on June 1-5. Their involvement in these studies is part of John Theurer Cancer Center's continued focus to bolster its research program.

30 May 2012

Thioridazine drug successfully kills human cancer stem cells

A team of scientists at McMaster University has discovered a drug, thioridazine, successfully kills cancer stem cells in the human while avoiding the toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments.

25 May 2012

New compound can enhance apoptosis in cancer cells

The BCL-2 protein family plays a large role in determining whether cancer cells survive in response to therapy or undergo a form of cell death known as apoptosis.

25 May 2012

Scientists may be step closer to developing new therapy for AML

Scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center may be one step closer to developing a new therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after discovering that the targeted agents obatoclax and sorafenib kill leukemia cells much more effectively when combined than when the drugs are administered individually.

23 May 2012

MicroRNA-3151 a new independent prognostic marker for acute leukemia

A study has identified microRNA-3151 as a new independent prognostic marker in certain patients with acute leukemia. The study involves patients with acute myeloid leukemia and normal-looking chromosomes.

15 May 2012

ASH report urges federal agencies to invest in 7 distinct areas of research

The American Society of Hematology (ASH), the world's largest professional society committed to the study and treatment of blood disorders, today issued a report urging federal agencies to coordinate hematology research funding around seven specific high-need areas that would produce the greatest impact and translate into improvements in patient care in the United States.

25 Apr 2012

CTI first quarter net loss decreases 66% to $17.4 million

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. today reported financial results and recent accomplishments for the first quarter of 2012.

21 Apr 2012

The key to treating AML may lie within FTL3 gene mutations

The key to treating one of the most common types of human leukemia may lie within mutations in a gene called FLT3, according to new research led by physician-scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

16 Apr 2012

Bio-Path 2011 net loss increases to $2,363,344

Bio-Path Holdings, Inc., a biotechnology company developing a liposomal delivery technology for nucleic acid cancer drugs, today announced operational and financial results for the year ended December 31, 2011.

4 Apr 2012

New preclinical data on ARIAD's ponatinib and AP26113 study presented at AACR meeting

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the presentation of new preclinical data on its investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor, ponatinib, and its investigational dual EGFR-ALK inhibitor, AP26113, at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in Chicago.

3 Apr 2012

Blocking PRC2 protein may help protect against AML

Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have identified a candidate drug target for treating acute myeloid leukemia, a white blood cell cancer that proliferates out of control in the bone marrow.

2 Apr 2012

Mutational profiling could determine which AML patients will benefit from dose-intensive chemotherapy

An international group of researchers, including those from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have published a paper in the March 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reviewing the results of a study that analyzed mutations in 18 genes of 398 patients who had acute myeloid leukemia.

26 Mar 2012

New drug makes chemotherapy more effective in treating acute myeloid leukemia

Doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that a new drug makes chemotherapy more effective in treating acute myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. Instead of attacking these cells directly, the drug helps drive them out of the bone marrow and into the bloodstream, where they are more vulnerable to chemotherapy.

21 Mar 2012

Targeted drugs should be aimed at mutations that develop early in blood cancer

The diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood cancer, often causes confusion. While some patients can be treated with repeated blood transfusions, others require chemotherapy, leaving some uncertainty about whether the syndromes actually are cancer.

15 Mar 2012