Targeting protein synthesis in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a type of blood cancer that affects around 500 children in the US every year. While many children initially respond well to treatment, unfortunately, over 30 percent experience the cancer coming back, which in many cases is fatal. Recent research has shown that not all leukemia cells are the same. There's a small group of cells within the cancer called leukemia stem cells (LSCs) that are unique and can survive treatment, leading to the cancer returning. Studies have found that the more of these LSCs there are, the lower the chances of a child surviving long-term. So, it's really important to find new ways to target and destroy LSCs in children with AML. If we can develop treatments that specifically tackle LSCs, it could make a big difference in saving the lives of children diagnosed with AML.
Project Goal:
Our main goal is to improve the health of children with a type of blood cancer called acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We want to do this by finding ways to specifically target the cells that cause AML, known as leukemia stem cells(LSCs). Our initial findings suggest that certain molecules called polyamines play a crucial role in keeping these leukemia stem cells alive in children with AML. Luckily, there are already drugs available that can target polyamines. Importantly, these drugs are already being tested in other types of cancer. In our research, we plan to study the role of polyamines in samples from pediatric AML patients and figure out why leukemia stem cells in children with AML depend on them to survive. Understanding this will help us identify which children with AML could benefit from drugs that target polyamines. This research is essential as it lays the groundwork for future clinical trials targeting polyamine biology in pediatric AML.
