New drug combination may help treat acute myeloid leukemia

New York, Jan 19 : Researchers have identified two drugs that are potent against acute myeloid leukemia (AML) when combined, but only weakly effective when used alone.
The research team was able to significantly enhance cancer cell death by jointly administering the drugs that are only partially effective when used as single-agent therapies.
“Our study shows that two types of drugs, MDM2 inhibitors and BET inhibitors, work synergistically to promote significant anti-leukemia activity,” said researcher Peter Adams, Professor at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in the US.
“The results were surprising because previous research had shown that each drug on its own had modest benefit against AML. The new research provides scientific rationale to advance clinical studies of the drug combination in patients with AML,” Adams added in the study published in the journal Nature Communications.
There are many types of AML, and different cases have different chromosome changes, gene mutations and epigenetic modifications, making it difficult for researchers to find novel therapies that will work for a substantial proportion of patients. Although much progress has been made toward finding effective treatments in recent years, the long-term overall survival has stagnated.
According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate for adults with AML remains less than 30 per cent.