Compound That Kills Lymphoma Cells Discovered

A compound that kills specific lymphoma cells has been discovered by an international research team, co-led by the OCI (Ontario Cancer Institute), Canada. This discovery will speed up the development of targeted medications to fight the most common forms of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

You can read about this in the online journal Cancer Cell (DOI 0.1016/j.ccr.2009.12.050).

The report shows how the researchers used a chemical compound to block protein BCL6 – which is known to cause cancer in approximately half of all non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cases; the 5^th most common form of cancer in Canada.

“We have identified a new avenue for drug development. It is exciting because until now, the prevailing wisdom has been that cancer proteins such as BCL6 would not respond in this way to chemical manipulation. We have proven otherwise,” said co-principal investigator Dr. Gilbert Privé, an OCI senior scientist who specializes in analyzing the structure and function of cancer-related proteins.

The scientists started their quest using 3-dimensional crystallography and computer-aided drug design to filter more than one million potential compounds to about 100 that warranted further investigation. They eventually narrowed the field, down to 10 and, finally, to the one compound that proved successful. In laboratory experiments, there was even better news – not only did the compound kill lymphoma cells, it was is non-toxic. Read more

Genetic Factors Can Increase Leukaemia Risk Seven-Fold

Scientists have found four new regions of the genome that increase the risk of a common blood cancer, according to results published in the journal Nature Genetics.

Professor Richard Houlston and his team at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) have now found the location of 10 genetic variants, common in the European population, that are associated with an increased risk of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).

Professor Houlston’s team last year proved that people’s genes could make them more susceptible to CLL, identifying six regions of the genome more common among sufferers. In the latest paper, also funded by the charity Leukaemia Research, his team have identified another four regions that influence an individual’s risk of CLL.

CLL is the most common form of leukemiain western countries, with around 2,700 people in the UK diagnosed each year with the disease, most after age 55.

The genetic factors identified in the latest study are all common in the population, and each increases the risk of CLL by between 1.2 and 1.4-fold. Each person may carry from a few of the identified risk factors to all the risk factors. Importantly, the more genetic factors carried, the higher their risk of developing CLL. Read more

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