Source: King's College London
Date: 6 June 2011
Summary:
Cancer Research UK-funded researchers at King’s College London have identified a way of eliminating leukaemic stem cells, which could in the future lead to new treatments that may enable complete remission for leukaemia patients. An early study in mice has shown that leukaemic stem cells can be abolished by suppressing two proteins found in the body.
Leukaemic stem cells sustain the disease and are likely to be responsible for relapse, so elimination of these cells is believed to be key for achieving complete remission. These encouraging findings highlight the two proteins as potential therapeutic targets to prevent the most aggressive forms of leukaemia returning. The study, funded by Cancer Research UK and Leukaemia Lymphoma Research, is published today in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
