Acute Myeloid Leukemia - Future Hope

AML - Future Hope

• Intensive research on leukemia is being done at many cancer research centers to unravel the mystery behind the changes in an individual's DNA that induces normal bone marrow cells to become abnormal. A treatment may result, once the information unfolds, with the abnormal DNA being substituted with the normal DNA, to restore cell growth.
• Great strides have been taken to detect leukemic cells after treatment. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) can detect a single cancer cell among a million normal cells. This is useful in checking out the effectiveness of the treatment.

• Studies are being carried out to analyze the best combination of chemotherapy drugs and also to figure out the group of patients who will benefit the most from the various treatments.

• Drug-resistance of the leukemic cells is another area that is being researched
• Drugs that specifically target genetic changes associated with AML are being developed.
• The mini-transplant is a modified blood stem-cell transplant procedure that involves very little total body irradiation followed by a stem-cell infusion. This method results in very few acute side effects, is more tolerable for both younger and older patients, and does not involve hospitalization.
• The Hutchinson Center has developed a sensitive

  test that can identify the earliest signs of relapse by detecting one in a million cancer cells, enabling the doctors to quickly initiate treatment in patients whose disease is recurring after the induction treatment.

• It was found by the Hutchinson Center researchers that children with aggressive leukemia, whose cancer recurred after a stem cell transplant, could be cured by a second transplant from a tissue-matched donor
• Monoclonal Antibodies are specific proteins made in the lab, designed to attach to certain molecules on the surface of AML cells. Some of these antibodies have radioactive chemicals attached to them. When they are injected into an AML patient, they attach to the cancerous cells and destroy them. The first FDA-approved, antibody-targeted drug, Mylotarg, has been developed for use in older adults with AML who have suffered a relapse after treatment or who might be unable to withstand the side effects of further chemotherapy. Continued research is going on to consider the best use of this approach.