Health
USC Studies Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
- Michael Lieber is among the USC contributors to the study.
By Leslie Ridgeway on September 10, 2009 7:36 AM
Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases have discovered high concentrations of a specific mutator protein in cells that develop resistance to drug treatment in chronic myeloid leukemia.
The finding helps explain why chronic myeloid leukemia cells become drug-resistant and may lead to the development of therapies that improve survival in patients.
Researchers led by Markus Müschen, director of the leukemia and lymphoma program at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, found that the protein, activation-induced cytidine deaminase, which normally mutates antibody genes in B cells, triggers resistance to Gleevec, the standard treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia patients.
Chronic myeloid leukemia cells often develop resistance to Gleevec, limiting treatment options for many patients living with the illness.
The multi-investigator study, which features major contributions from USC faculty colleagues Michael Lieber, John Groffen, Yong-mi Kim and Nora Heisterkamp, is published in the current issue of Cancer Cell.
“Before this, we did not know why some patients developed resistance to Gleevec,” Müschen said. “Now that we know at least one mechanism, we can work to develop therapies to counter the effects of activation-induced cytidine deaminase in the chronic phase of the disease.”
Every year, 4,500 patients are diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in the United States; nearly 25,000 have the disease today. Chronic myeloid leukemia is a slowly progressing cancer that usually occurs during or after middle age and rarely occurs in children. Patients with the disease have an unusually high number of hematopoietic stem cells (blood cell progenitors) that were slated to become immune system cells that instead develop into cancerous cells that damage the bone marrow and blood.
Gleevec increases overall survival for chronic myeloid leukemia patients to 95 percent over a five-year period. When patients develop resistance to the drug, they quickly transition from the chronic phase of chronic myeloid leukemia to a condition called blast crisis progression, or fatal B lymphoid blast crisis, with an average survival range of less than seven months.
The ongoing project is supported by two research grants from the National Institutes of Health.
TAGS: medicine
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The Wall Street Journal highlighted the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
KPCC-FM reported that this fall USC will offer Persian language courses for the first time. A $250,000 grant from the Farhang Foundation helped to establish the program. Bruce Zuckerman of the USC Dornsife College said he has many students interested in the Persian language, culture and region. “The Iranian region is one that has great impact on our lives today and has had great impact going back into ancient times,” he said. The story noted that USC and the Farhang Foundation hope to raise more money to create an Iranian studies minor. Payvand also featured the new courses.
American Songwriter ran a Q&A with Christopher Sampson of the USC Thornton School about the school’s Popular Music program, which Sampson founded. He noted that the program has been available as a major in Songwriting since 2009, and has incorporated a diverse range of musical genres. “We have now established a consistent track record of students having professional success to know that the program gets results,” Sampson said. He also highlighted the achievements of Songwriting faculty members Lamont Dozier, Andrea Stolpe and David Poe of the Thornton School.
The Economist featured research by Valter Longo of the USC Davis School finding that short periods of fasting could help cancer patients better tolerate chemotherapy, and may even make treatment more effective. The Globe and Mail (Canada) reported that cancerous tumors are essentially energy hogs. “They need to burn lots of energy just to stay alive,” Longo said. The study was also covered by Irish Independent (Ireland), Magyar Tavirati Iroda (Hungary), Anadolu Ajansi (Turkey), Son Haber (Netherlands), Vietnam+ (Vietnam), Turkish Radio and Television (Turkey) and Romania Libera (Romania).
L.A. Weekly featured research by USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies, which has developed video games based around physical movement for people recovering from strokes or other injuries. The games develop strength in specific body parts. Traditional video games weren’t right for these patients, said the institute’s Belinda Lange. “Often, the fun parts of the game would only be unlocked after a series of other levels, which our patients often couldn’t achieve,” she said. The games are now being tested with physical therapists in three major clinics.
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