http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences in Japan report today that they have identified a compound that could be used as a new treatment to prevent relapse in acute myeloid leukemia patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-compound-acute-blood-cancer-relapse.html Cancer Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:00:06 EST news285423111 Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive blood cancer that is currently incurable in 70% of patients. In a bold effort, CSHL scientists are among those identifying and characterizing the molecular mechanisms responsible for this cancer in order to generate potential new therapeutics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-strategy-interfering-potent-cancer-causing-gene.html Cancer Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:00:22 EST news279811312 A potent chemotherapy agent wrapped within a monoclonal antibody selectively destroys the malignant cells responsible for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) in either weekly or monthly dosing, researchers report at the 54th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-weekly-dose-drug-side-effects.html Cancer Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:05:55 EST news274453533 An experimental drug combination for preventing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was not significantly better than the standard regimen on key endpoints, according to a report of a phase 3 trial at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-experimental-graft-vs-host-disease-treatment-equivalent.html Cancer Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:02:54 EST news274381362 New research demonstrates the efficacy of the first curative treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) that does not include chemotherapy, marking an important step toward front-line use of targeted therapies for acute leukemia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-atra-arsenic-trioxide-idarubicin-newly.html Cancer Sun, 09 Dec 2012 02:58:55 EST news274244309 Hundreds of mutations exist in leukemia cells at the time of diagnosis, but nearly all occur randomly as a part of normal aging and are not related to cancer, new research shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-hundreds-random-mutations-leukemia-linked.html Genetics Thu, 19 Jul 2012 12:00:13 EST news261915212 Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that abnormal bone marrow stem cells drive the development of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), serious blood diseases that are common among the elderly and that can progress to acute leukemia. The findings could lead to targeted therapies against MDS and prevent MDS-related cancers. The study is published today in the online edition of the journal Blood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-myelodysplastic-syndromes-mds-linked-abnormal.html Medical research Mon, 02 Jul 2012 04:06:02 EST news260420753 Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at six other institutions have recently tested a treatment for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, a blood-related malignancy that involves the ineffective production of blood cells, leaving patients anemic and in need of frequent blood transfusions. Because the body has no natural means to reduce iron that accumulates from repeated transfusions, patients' organs can become iron overloaded, leading to heart failure, liver injury, susceptibility to infection, and other complications. Bone marrow failure and conversion to acute leukemia may occur in patients with MDS, necessitating bone marrow transplantation. The disease can be caused by chemotherapy and radiation treatment for cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-myelodysplastic-syndrome-deferasirox-beneficial-iron.html Cancer Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:45:45 EST news259591527 A novel family of experimental agents that blocks a molecule from shuttling proteins out of the cell nucleus might offer a new treatment for people with acute leukemia, according to a study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-inhibitors-shuttle-molecule-acute-leukemia.html Cancer Tue, 19 Jun 2012 11:45:04 EST news259325086 A small inherited change in DNA is largely responsible for overactivating a gene linked to poor treatment response in people with acute leukemia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-inherited-dna-overactive-leukemia-gene.html Genetics Fri, 25 May 2012 10:59:20 EST news257162258 A study has identified microRNA-3151 as a new independent prognostic marker in certain patients with acute leukemia. The study involves patients with acute myeloid leukemia and normal-looking chromosomes (CN-AML). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-microrna-prognostic-marker-acute-leukemia.html Cancer Mon, 14 May 2012 14:12:58 EST news256223449 (Medical Xpress) -- Parents, siblings and children of patients with the most common form of acute leukemia do not run a higher risk of developing the disease as was once believed, according to a new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-higher-acute-leukaemia-relatives.html Cancer Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:43:38 EST news243157402 In geriatric medicine, the adage that age is just a number holds true. New research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center uses a simple assessment tool to determine how well older adults diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) can handle treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-bedside-outcomes-older-cancer-patients.html Cancer Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:06:40 EST news238845991 Blacks and Hispanics have fewer cases of acute leukemia compared to whites but they die at a substantially higher rate, according to study results presented at the Fourth AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held here Sept. 18-21, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-death-higher-minorities-acute-leukemia.html Cancer Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:40:01 EST news235669878 For patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), choosing the appropriate treatment depends heavily on the prognosis. Those patients at the highest risk of dying from their disease are typically offered the most aggressive therapies, while patients at lower risk could live several years with MDS, needing only supportive care or other relatively side-effect free treatments. While some clinical variables are useful, current methods for predicting prognosis for individual patients are not ideal. Patients with the same clinical features can have very different outcomes from their disease. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have developed a means of improving prognosis methods and predicting how long patients with MDS will live after diagnosis by identifying certain gene mutations in their abnormal bone marrow. These findings are published in the June 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-discovery-genetic-mutations-myelodysplastic-syndromes.html Genetics Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:38:45 EST news228674283 New research conducted at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, offers hope for people with a rare disorder called Chuvash polycythemia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-genetic-orphan-disease.html Genetics Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:26:56 EST news227960376 A new discovery in mice by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center may one day allow doctors to spare some patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) from toxic treatments, while also opening the door for new therapeutic research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-reveals-personalized-approach-treatment-aml.html Cancer Mon, 16 May 2011 04:11:16 EST news224737849 A new study by the NYU Cancer Institute, an NCI-designated cancer center, sheds light on the origins of myeloid leukemia, a type of blood cancer that affects children and adults. The researchers discovered that novel mutations in an intracellular communication pathway called Notch led to the cancer, pointing to a potential new target for treating this disease. Notch has already been implicated in another type of blood cancer called T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, but the new research found an unexpected role for it in myeloid leukemia. The study is published in the May 12, 2011 issue of the journal Nature. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-reveals-cancer-affecting-blood-bone.html Cancer Thu, 12 May 2011 10:15:33 EST news224414086