Health News

Identifying Aggressive Leukemia
There are two main types of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and knowing whether a patient has the aggressive or the slow version is very important to determine treatment early on.
The Origins of Leukemia
Leukemia can be very different from person to person, even within the same type of cancer. Scientists thought they understood how leukemia begins, but it may be more complicated than we thought.
The Double Life of MCL-1
Figuring out the molecular puzzles that can change a healthy cell to a cancer cell would be difficult even if you could watch the process happen.
Revlimid and Risk of New Cancers
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is informing the public of an increased risk of second primary malignancies (new types of cancer) in patients with newly-diagnosed multiple myeloma who received Revlimid ( lenalidomide ).
Second Chance for Mylotarg
Drug development is a tricky process, and it's common for pharmaceuticals to flounder initially before their best use is discovered.
A Better Leukemia Drug
A new drug under development for the treatment of the childhood leukemia T-ALL has had success in the first round of pharmaceutical testing. An experimental new drug known as CAL-130 is a dual enzyme inhibitor, blocking two forms of an enzyme used in the out of control growth involved in leukemia. The drug successfully stopped the enzymes phosphoinositide-3 kinase gamma and delta in testing, effectively stopping cancer growth. Ask your oncologist about clinical trials available to you. Testing of the dual inhibitor took place first in mice, and then again in samples of leuk...
Higher Dosing Doesn't Mean Better Health
It's a common concept. If one dose works well, then two doses may work even better. This theory was tested recently in patients being treated for chronic myeloid leukemia ( CML ), and it didn't work.
Gene Based Drug for Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Researchers believe that targeting the cancer gene FLT3 could cure one type of leukemia, and say results from their research explain the failure of several drugs currently used. Scientists studying the genetic relationships involved in acute myeloid leukemia have used the genetic data produced in their research to refine the search for a new drug, and testing of one candidate is underway. Ask your oncologist about clinical trials available to you. The group from the University of California in San Francisco announced that the gene FLT3 was being investigated as a possible target...
Attacking Cancer at the Root
Leukemia research has had some of the best results for effective pharmaceutical treatment, with the majority of cancers going into remission. Scientists are now researching how to best attack that remaining stubborn minority of leukemias . As a cell matures, it changes from a very basic, undifferentiated cell to developing characteristics that make it easier to recognize, and susceptible to specialized targeted drugs such as Gleevec ( imatinib ). But cells early in the development process may be unaffected by cancer treatments. Ask your oncologist about beta catenin inhibito...
Best Treatments for Childhood Leukemia
Over the last few decades, the ability of doctors to successfully treat childhood leukemias has risen dramatically. For the small group of patients that don't respond to initial therapy, figuring out why has become an important research topic.