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.

BioLineRx reports promising initial results from Phase 2 trial of BL-8040 in AML patients

BioLineRx, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to identifying, in-licensing and developing promising therapeutic candidates, announced today promising initial results for its BL-8040 drug candidate in a Phase 2 clinical trial for patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

16 Dec 2013

Novel ISM strategy enables selection of potentially effective cancer therapies for patients

A new individualized systems medicine strategy, developed at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM and the Helsinki University Central Hospital, enables a selection of potentially effective cancer therapies for individual patients. The promising results achieved by applying this strategy to chemoresistant adult acute myeloid leukemia patients have been recently published in the Cancer Discovery journal.

13 Dec 2013

Gemtuzumab with standard chemotherapy can reduce risk of relapse in pediatric patients with AML

The addition of a monoclonal antibody called gemtuzumab combined with standard chemotherapy has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of relapse and increase rates of disease-free survival in pediatric patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

9 Dec 2013

Merck announces approval of NOXAFIL delayed-release tablets by FDA

Merck (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved NOXAFIL® (posaconazole) 100 mg delayed-release tablets.

27 Nov 2013

CSHL identifies specific stretch of DNA that helps cancerous blood cells to proliferate in AML

A team of researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has identified a leukemia-specific stretch of DNA called an enhancer element that enables cancerous blood cells to proliferate in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a devastating cancer that is incurable in 70% of patients.

27 Nov 2013

Two separate studies yield key findings for prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure for AML

26 Nov 2013

Researchers identify potential therapeutic target in treatment of certain AML

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a group of heterogeneous diseases with considerable diversity in terms of genetic abnormalities. Mutations of CEBPA, a tumour suppressor, are found in about 10 per cent of human AML patients. In two separate studies on CEBPA mutations in AML subtypes, researchers successfully identified and validated a gene known as Sox4 as a potential therapeutic target and a class of anti-cancer drugs, histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, as potential candidates in the treatment of certain AML.

25 Nov 2013

Kiadis reports successful Phase II enrollment for CR-AIR-007 ATIR blood cancer treatment study

Kiadis Pharma B.V., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for blood cancers, today announces the successful Phase II enrollment of approximately ten patients of whom the majority have already been transplanted and received ATIR™. Kiadis Pharma's lead program, ATIR™, is a cell-based product designed to enable stem cell transplantations from partially mismatched (haploidentical) family donors for blood cancer patients who do not have a standard of care stem cell donor available. Topline data from the trial (CR-AIR-007) is expected in the first half of 2014.

18 Nov 2013

GO drug may improve outcome of bone marrow transplantation for select pediatric leukemia patients

Combining the drug gemtuzumab ozogamicin with conventional chemotherapy may improve the outcome of bone marrow transplantation for some children battling high-risk acute myeloid leukemia, according to a study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The results appear in the current edition of the journal Cancer.

16 Nov 2013

Diffregen awarded SBIR Phase 1 grant to advance Angiocidin towards human clinical trials

Diffregen LLC, a Temple University startup company, has been awarded a small business innovation research Phase 1 grant by the National Cancer Institute to advance Angiocidin, a university-created therapeutic to treat acute myeloid leukemia, to the doorstep of human clinical trials.

24 Oct 2013

EORTC/GIMEMA trial shows combination of GO and chemotherapy provides no benefit for older patients with AML

Results of the randomized, phase III, EORTC/GIMEMA 06012 intergroup trial (AML-17) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology show that sequential combination of gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO) and standard chemotherapy provides no benefit for older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and is too toxic for patients 70 years of age or more. GO is an antibody-drug conjugate comprised of an anti-CD33 monoclonal antibody linked to a cytotoxic agent.

23 Oct 2013

Scientists identify 127 mutated genes that appear to drive development of tumors in the body

Examining 12 major types of cancer, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified 127 repeatedly mutated genes that appear to drive the development and progression of a range of tumors in the body. The discovery sets the stage for devising new diagnostic tools and more personalized cancer treatments.

17 Oct 2013

Astrazeneca Acquires Spirogen For Up To $440M

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15 Oct 2013

New therapeutic targets and drugs may benefit people with leukemia

An Indiana University cancer researcher and his colleagues have discovered new therapeutic targets and drugs that may someday benefit people with certain types of leukemia or blood cancer.

5 Oct 2013

Research reveals significant role of Axl receptor in progression, therapeutic resistance of AML

BerGenBio AS, an oncology biopharmaceutical company, announces that a paper entitled "Axl, a prognostic and therapeutic target in acute myeloid leukemia mediates paracrine cross-talk of leukemia cells with bone marrow stroma" by Ben-Batalla et al., has been published in Blood, the most cited peer-reviewed research journal in the field of hematology.

1 Oct 2013

Standoff between a mutated gene and normal counterpart keeps certain cancer cells alive

What keeps leukemia cells alive almost forever, able to continue dividing endlessly and aggressively? New research at the Weizmann Institute suggests that, in around a quarter of all leukemias, the cancer cells rely on an internal "balance of terror" to keep going.

1 Oct 2013

FDA grants Breakthrough Therapy designation to Boehringer Ingelheim's volasertib

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to volasertib, an investigational inhibitor of polo-like kinase, being evaluated for the treatment of patients aged 65 or older with previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia, ineligible for intensive remission induction therapy.

17 Sep 2013

Immune marker predicts transplant success, improves selection of bone marrow donors

The risk of death following bone marrow transplantation can be reduced about 60 percent using a new technique to identify bone marrow donors who make the most potent cancer-fighting immune cells, according to research from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The findings appear in the September 16 online issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

17 Sep 2013

Kiadis five-year follow-up phase I/II clinical study confirms long-term safety, efficacy of ATIR

Kiadis Pharma B.V., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for blood cancers, announced today that the five-year follow-up of patients with high-risk malignancies from its Phase I/II clinical study confirms long-term safety and efficacy of ATIR™ over a broad dose range.

12 Sep 2013

Tumor Suppressor May Actually Drive Cancer Development

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28 Aug 2013