A new drug class that might help treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been outlined in a UK research project from the University of Cambridge.
AML is a blood cancer in which bone marrow produces abnormal myeloid blood cells; these white blood cells normally protect the body against infection and the spread of tissue damage. ALM progresses rapidly and, without treatment, can be fatal within weeks or months.
The study, reported in nature.com, was led by Professor Tony Kouzarides, who told medicalnewstoday.com: ‘Proteins are essential for our bodies to function and are produced by a process that involves translating our DNA into RNA using enzymes.
‘Sometimes this process can go awry, with potentially devastating consequences for human health.
Until now, no one has targeted this essential process as a way of fighting cancer.’
His team identified a ‘drug-like molecule STM2457 that can inhibit the action of a key enzyme involved in the development and maintenance of AML’.
That enzyme is called METTL3 and during AML, it becomes ‘overexpressed in some cells, driving the condition onward’.
Professor Kouzarides added: ‘In tissue cultured from individuals with AML and in mouse models of the disease, we’ve shown that our drug is able to block the cancerous effect caused by over -expression of the enzyme.’
He summed up: ‘This is a brand new field of research for cancer and the first drug-like molecule of its type to be developed. It’s the beginning of a new era for cancer therapeutics.’
