On November 20, a research team in Australia announced an important breakthrough in the treatment of melaneous artery disease (AML), one of the most aggressive and difficult forms of blood cancer to treat today. This study has just been published in the prestigious scientific journal Cell.
According to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center, the research team discovered that AML cancer cells - especially stem cells (the main cause of disease recurrence after treatment) - are completely dependent on a common protein protein protein called heme for survival and proliferation.
Taking advantage of this feature, scientists have found a way to block the production of heme in cancer cells. When this supply is cut off, cancer cells will die according to a new mechanism identified, called cuproptosis.
Alexander Lewis, a researcher at Peter Mac and the lead author of the work, explained: "By preventing AML cells from producing heme, we can activate cuproptosis, a unique form of cell death, and effectively kill the cells responsible for cancer recurrence."
We have identified a fundamental weakness in AML cells, Lewis emphasized. This opens the door for new, more potent and long-term therapies."
This is great news for the medical community. In Australia, about 900 people are diagnosed with AML each year. sadly, half of patients will have recurrence after menopause, and the average life expectancy of patients with recurrence is only 4 to 6 months.
This discovery is especially important because it not only kills cancer cells but also targets the ability to prevent disease from returning. Researchers believe that this method can be effective even in cases where AML has become resistant to current standard drugs.
The study also identified other metabolic pathways to combine with heme prevention strategies, in order to maximize treatment effectiveness in the future.
