Researchers led by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) have identified a potential new treatment approach to slow down the progression of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
The discovery published in the EMBO Journal centres around disrupting the function of a certain protein complex that cancer cells, including leukaemia cells, rely on to maintain their abnormal growth.
More than 3,100 people are diagnosed with AML, an aggressive form of blood cancer, in the UK every year.
The disease is challenging to treat due to its diverse genetic mutations, rapid progression and resistance to existing therapies such as chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants.
Experiments in cell cultures conducted by the research team showed that inhibiting BPTF, a specific cancer-driving protein within the nucleosome-remodelling factor (NURF) complex, can impair AML’s ability to flourish.
The NURF complex has previously been studied in other types of cancer but not in AML until recently, while BPTF has already been linked to MYC, another gene well known to promote cancer growth in many other types of cancer.
Ultimately, the results identify the formation of an alternative, previously unknown, NURF complex and suggest it could be a potential drug target in AML.
Alex Radzisheuskaya, leader of the Chromatin Biology Group at the ICR and co-corresponding author, said: “We hope this research provides hope to people affected by AML by revealing a potential new target for cancer treatment that doesn’t rely on conventional approaches. Instead, therapies could now focus on interfering with the NURF complex’s ability to organise the cancer genome, effectively hindering its growth at a fundamental level.
“Our early findings suggest that such an approach could effectively destroy cancer while being less harmful to normal cells, which is crucial in reducing side effects for patients.”
The research was funded by several organisations, including the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreements, the Kirsten and Freddy Johansen Foundation, the Neye Foundation and the Brain Tumour Charity.
The study comes just one month after ICR researchers highlighted the potential benefits of treating bladder cancer with personalised radiotherapy.
A team from the institute also recently found that prostate cancer patients with high levels of a specific protein have significantly poorer outcomes compared to those without.