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New childhood cancer data is reported ...
Australian medical scientists have shown for the first time a small molecule called ABT-737 can increase the effectiveness of some cancer therapies.
ABT-737, blocks the action of a class of proteins known as the Bcl-2 family, may prove to be a valuable tool in the fight against cancer.
The Bcl-2 family of proteins plays a central role in regulating apoptosis and, consequently, in tumor formation, tumor growth and resistance to treatment.
The researchers made the discovery while investigating drug therapies for children suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL.
Dr. Richard Lock, chief of the leukemia biology program at the Children's Cancer Institute in Sydney, in collaboration with U.S. scientists at the Los Angeles Children's Hospital and the University of Southern California, found ABT-737, when used in combination with drugs usually administered in ALL therapy, had the ability to enhance the toxicity of the drugs against leukemia cells.
ALL is the most common form of childhood cancer.
In the study, the effects of ABT-737 in combination with three common chemotherapeutic agents -- L-Asparaginase, vincristine and dexamethasone -- were successfully tested on a number of ALL cell lines.
The research is reported in the journal Blood.
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