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.

St. Jude develop relatively simple and inexpensive test for acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have developed a relatively simple and inexpensive test that identifies children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who have responded well enough to their first round of chemotherapy that they might be successfully treated with a much less aggressive follow-up treatment.

3 Apr 2006

Weill Cornell researchers identify tumor-suppressor gene important to diffuse large B-cell lymphomas

Inactivation of a "tumor suppressor" gene could be a major cause of a class of blood cancers called diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, reports a team of researchers at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

30 Mar 2006

Novel therapy for chronic graft-versus-host disease

A study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers offers the strongest evidence yet of the effectiveness of a novel therapy for chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a potentially life-threatening complication of donor bone marrow and stem cell transplants.

28 Mar 2006

Novel therapy for chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) using Rituximab

Dana-Farber researchers found that rituximab reduced the severity of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in 70 percent of the study participants.

27 Mar 2006

ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals receives U.S. orphan drug designation for Ceflatonin

ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals has announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug status for the company's most advanced drug, Ceflatonin, for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

21 Mar 2006

Scientists identify microRNAs that appear to play a role in the development of platelets

Scientists have identified a handful of microRNAs (miRNAs) that appear to play a significant role in the development of platelets - blood cells critical to the body's ability to form clots following an injury.

21 Mar 2006

Drug trial nightmare - two still critically ill

In the drug trial nightmare which has left six men very ill in a London Hospital two remain in intensive care and are not expected to make any early improvement, according to their doctor Ganesh Suntharalingham, Northwick Park Hospital's Clinical Director of Intensive Care.

17 Mar 2006

Lives in danger as drug trial goes horribly wrong

In a drug trial which went horribly wrong two men are critically ill in a London hospital and four others are seriously ill, after suffering violent reactions to a new drug they took as part of a clinical trial.

16 Mar 2006

Drug trial goes wrong and six end up intensive care

After taking part in a clinical trial of a new drug six men are now seriously ill in a north London hospital in the UK.

15 Mar 2006

Impact of a scientific presentation on community treatment patterns for primary breast cancer

The oral presentation of data from a single study at a national scientific conference can have an important impact on patient treatment, even before study publication or Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval

15 Mar 2006

The transcription factor MEF/ELF4 regulates the quiescence of primitive hematopoietic cells

Scientists have uncovered new information about what orchestrates the complex balance between blood stem cells and mature blood cells, a relationship that is often disrupted in leukemia.

15 Mar 2006

Scientists gain better understanding of the behavior of leukemic cells

Scientists have uncovered new information about what orchestrates the complex balance between blood stem cells and mature blood cells, a relationship that is often disrupted in leukemia.

15 Mar 2006

Study recommends treatment change for pre-leukemia disease

A new study finds that longer courses of a mild form of chemotherapy may help patients with a bone marrow disease only recently considered a form of cancer.

14 Mar 2006

Decitabine improves myelodysplastic syndrome treatment

A potent member of a new class of drugs increases survival in some patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and may become the new standard of therapy for this group of pre-cancer disorders

14 Mar 2006

Decitabine improves patient outcomes in myelodysplastic syndromes

Decitabine, a new drug undergoing Phase III efficacy trials, provides palliative therapy for patients with the bone marrow disease called Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), according to a new study.

14 Mar 2006

New vaccines will protect against cancer

The leading cancer charity in Britain is predicting that thousands of cancers will be prevented every year as specific vaccines are developed.

13 Mar 2006

New way to study proteins in live cells

For the first time, Johns Hopkins researchers were able to easily jumpstart the activity of a well-known cancer protein in live cells with a small molecule, a strategy that pinpointed key players in the cancer process and can be used to determine new therapeutic targets.

9 Mar 2006

Drug shortfall as more than 5,000 conditions need medication

Only seven per cent of drug applications for treating people with rare diseases were approved in Europe between 2000 and 2004, despite the fact that there are currently more than 5,000 conditions needing medication.

9 Mar 2006

Scientists fight leukaemia with 'natural killer' cells

Scientists at the University of the West of England and the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the Bristol Children's Hospital have just won funding for a two-year project aimed at improving the outcome of bone marrow stem-cell transplants in young leukaemia patients.

8 Mar 2006

Extensive study of natalizumab

Scientists have completed an extensive study of more than 3,000 patients who received a promising anti-inflammatory drug, natalizumab, that was linked to three cases of a serious brain infection in large clinical trials halted in early 2005.

7 Mar 2006