Scientists have a developed a new method to monitor the effect of
anti-cancer drugs on very rare leukemia stem cells. The approach
potentially allows doctors to screen patients and personalize their
treatment. The recent development of novel agents has improved outcomes for
patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). These so-called tyrosine
kinase inhibitors (TKIs) target abnormal proteins caused by commonly
found genetic mutations in CML patients. However, the existence of
treatment-resistant cancer stem cells, cells that are able to
repeatedly renew the leukemia cell population, is one way that many
patients experience disease recurrence when treatment stops. Any new drug must therefore be tested on such stem cells, but
unfortunately they are only found in very low numbers and are identified
by certain cell surface markers. Now researchers at The University of
Manchester, part of the Manchester Cancer Research Center, have
tested a way to monitor the effect of drugs on small samples of cells.
The research team looked at an antibody-based approach to detect
structural changes in certain proteins, in order to track the
effectiveness of the TKI drugs. The instrument used fixes proteins in
place and holds them, there allowing for a better signal to be generated
from less material. With this approach they found that they could
record changes in samples of only a few thousand critically important
but rare stem cells.
"This new approach will enable us to test drugs on cells taken from
patients, either at presentation or in a clinical trial setting. It has
great potential to allow us to implement precision medicine, where
patients receive the most appropriate treatment to target their
individual tumor," added Professor Whetton.
No comments:
Post a Comment