Leukemia

GLEEVEC - An Oral treatment for leukemia

The U.S.Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at a conference in Washington, approves the new leukemia drug-GLEEVEC, first of its kind that directly removes the sign of a protein known to cause cancer. It is given as an oral treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Other molecular-targeting drugs previously approved by the FDA interfere with proteins associated with other cancers, but n...

GLEEVEC - An Oral treatment for leukemia

The U.S.Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at a conference in Washington, approves the new leukemia drug-GLEEVEC, first of its kind that directly removes the sign of a protein known to cause cancer. It is given as an oral treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Other molecular-targeting drugs previously approved by the FDA interfere with proteins associated with other cancers, but n...

Cyclosporin A Treats Leukemia Complications

Some leukemia patients with common complications of their disease may have a new way to overcome them. New research finds that chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with anemia or thrombocytopenia can be treated effectively with the drug, cyclosporin A. Anemia is a decrease in red cells in the blood and thrombocytopenia is when the number of platelets in reduced. The latter is the most comm...

Exposure to EMF may cause leukemia

Long periods of exposure to high level electromagnetic fields (EMF) at home could double the risk of childhood leukemia, a major international study has found. //The three-year review was carried out for the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) by six senior epidemiologists from major institutions around the world. Leukemia, which develops in the bone...

A new vaccine for leukemia

A new vaccine has been developed by a research team from Southampton University,which works by instigating the body's immune system to fight lymphoma,a cancer of the immune cells in the blood.//The lymphoma cells are not usually identified by the body's immune system, and so can multiply diversely. By, using the new technique, scientists are able to remove a sample of tumour ce...

Leukemia pill shows promise against stomach cancer

Gleevec, which was just approved for treating leukemia, also shows promise against a type of stomach cancer . The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a promising anti-leukemia drug for treatment of a relatively rare form of abdominal cancer. The drug, Gleevec, administered as a pill once a day, is effective in treating both forms of cancer because of its ability to target and kill ca...

Aspirin Lowers Leukemia Risk

Researchers have found yet another benefit of taking aspirin. A new study shows women who take aspirin two or more times a week may lower their risk of leukemia by more than 50 percent. Investigators analyzed data from more than 28,000 women in the Iowa Women's Health Study to determine whether taking aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, could...

Hope for Chemo-Resistant Leukemia Patients

For patients with chemo-resistant leukemia, a new drug is showing promising results.For the past decade, researchers // have been experimenting with bacteria-based recombinant immunotoxins. An immunotoxin is bioengineered and consists of only the most essential and functional part of the antibodies that are commonly used to fight leukemia. One of those immunotoxins, BL-22, is showing encouraging...

Genes Found To Help Leukemia Treatment

When devising a treatment plan for Leukemia , doctors rely on indicators to decide how aggressive the cancer is likely to be, // including how the cancer cells look under a microscope, the patient’s age, and disease history. However, for some patients, those indicators are not enough to place them in a high-risk or low-risk group. Doctors may be left guessing which treatments to try. Res...

Looking Towards More Effective Leukemia Treatment

Eighty percent of the time childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia is curable with chemotherapy. The bad news is doctors are not sure // why it doesn’t work for the other 20 percent of patients. Now, new research finds it could be because of a small number of genes that are resistant to drugs used to treat the disease. Researchers tested leukemia cells from 173 children. They looked at...

Diet Found To Offer Protection Against Leukemia

The incidence of leukemia in children under age 5 in Britain has increased by more than 50 percent over the last 50 years. Modern lifestyle // factors, such as exposure to radiation, benzene, and environmental pollutants, are thought to play a major role in the rising incidence. Research conducted shows that the low incidence of leukemia in Asia is due in part to the protective effect o...

Exposure To Night Light may Increase The Risk Of Leukemia

A pitch-black room may be the healthiest environment for your child at bedtime. According to new research , increased light at night // may put children at risk for leukemia. Researchers have determined that light at night is found to disrupt the circadian rhythm and suppress the production of melatonin. As an antioxidant, in many studies melatonin has been shown to protect DNA from oxi...

Skin Allergies Found To Increase The Risk Of Leukemia

People who suffer from certain skin allergies are more likely to develop blood-related cancers when they get older. Research shows // people who experience hives are more likely to develop leukemia. Those who have eczema in childhood are about two-times more likely to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Based on findings of the study researchers believe the skin allergies might lead to canc...

Chemical found in plants may be the treatment for leukemia

Research has found out that a chemical called parthenolide is successful in destroying stem cell leukemia. The chemical is found// in a widely available plant of North America, called feverfew. This plant has been used for centuries to treat migraine and rheumatoid arthritis, but this is the first time this is being linked to blood cancer research. Past studies have found that malignan...

Understanding Gene Profiles Could Help Cure A Resistant Form Of Leukemia In Kids

Researchers have uncovered new genes that may help explain why 20 percent of children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia // ( ALL ) are resistant to treatment with chemotherapy drugs. According to researchers chemotherapy cures about 80 percent of ALL cases, but the remaining 20 percent have cancer cells that are resistant to chemotherapy drugs. In order to determine genetic pr...

Infants going to day-care may have lower risk of leukemia

British scientists have found that increased exposure to infections in early infancy, as staying in a day-care //center, may reduce the risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The study results were compiled from 6305 children across ten regions of UK of age 2 to 14 yrs without cancer and 3140 children with cancer, of whom 1286 had acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Day care and so...

Childhood leukemia linked to residence close to high voltage power lines

In a research done by researchers of University of Oxford, UK, incidence// of childhood leukemia had been linked to proximity of residence to high voltage power lines. Researchers had looked into the cases of 29081 children with cancer, of which 9700 children had leukemia. These medical records were matched for age, sex and place of residence for controls. The results of the...

Genetics linked to leukemia treatment success rate in children

Genes may be at the root of how children react to cancer treatments.// A new study by the researchers funded by American Society of Hematology says that personalized medicine based on the genetic makeup of children may yield better results in treating childhood leukemia. Researchers had looked into the records of 246 children suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The patie...

Ageing stem cells at the root of infections, leukemia

Scientists have reported that the incidence of leukemia and infections in elderly people// may be due to the ageing stem cells. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the potential to regenerate itself and develop into all types of specialized cells types that may form various types of cells of the tissue from which it was taken. Researchers working in the Stanford...

Hope for patients with Chronic leukemia

For the first time in India ,German Remedies, a part of the Zydus group, has launched Fludara Oral (fludarabine) for the treatment // of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) is a cancer of the lymphocytes. It is a serious, progressive disease, which at present has no cure. The disease is unknown in childhood, very uncommon in young people and becomes progressively more...

Night Light Found To Increase The Risk Of Leukemia

According to a new study the healthiest environment for your child at bedtime would be a pitch-black room as researchers say increased light at night may put children at risk for leukemia.// In the past, research has found a correlation between night workers and an increased risk for breast cancer, further supporting the theory that light at night is a risk factor for leukemia....

Treating Leukemia With Natural Cells

Natural killer cells are part of the body’s immune system and help protect the body against infection and some cancers, particularly leukemia. A new study shows promising treatment for acute myelogenous leukemia // patients may lie in artificially stimulating natural killer cells from a patient’s family member. Researchers say this method could help treat patients with the highly fatal cancer o...

The potent anti-leukemia activity of Berbamine

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a pluripotent hematopoietic stem cell disorder characterized by accumulation of mature and immature granulocytes in peripheral blood and bone marrow due to uncontrolled growth // and resistance to apoptosis. The dysregulated activity of the bcr/abl oncoprotein tyrosine kinase, which is encoded by the bcr?abl fusion gene, has been shown to be responsible for the...

Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) Has An Answer Now!

Another plant extract called Forskolin has been found to be helpful in inhibiting the growth of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells in cultures and mice by up to 90 percent.// Forskolin is prepared from the root of the plant coleus forskohlii, a native of India that is used as an alternative remedy in other countries, and as an ornamental plant in the US. CML, a malignant...

Wonder drug Dasatinib gives hopes to leukemia patients

The company Bristol-Myers Squibb Co at Boston told the press that the drug Dasatinib has led to reduction in the number of patients with Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).// This drug is very effective in the decreasing the leukemia cells from the bone marrow than the previously used drug Gleevec. Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is usually presented in three different stages –...

Leukemia Can Be Cured By Garden Plant's Root

A new pathway with regard to the progression of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) has reportedly been identified by US based scientists. They have also found out that an extract from the plant coleus forskohlii's root,// which is called forskolin can be used for suppressing the process. As many as 4,600 people in the US alone are expected to develop CML this year, and the findings may contribute...

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia May Attain a 90% Cure Rate

The improvements made in diagnoses and treatment of the fatal childhood cancer acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) will result in a cure rate of 90%, according to researchers belonging to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.// The progressive improvement in the cure rate since 1962, when only 4% of children with ALL survived, reflects in large part the more effective use of exis...

Mouse Models To Determine The Cause Of Aggressive Leukemia

According to the research conducted by the scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital it was found that mutation and loss of tumor suppressor gene resulted in aggressive leukemias.// Researchers have used mouse models to determine the reason behind aggressive nature and drug resistant nature of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The investigators found that the combination of a mut...

Leukemia Gets A New Drug

Researchers from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) affiliated to the Catholic University of Leuven say that Sorafenib (Nexavar) is a better drug than Glivec for Chronic Eosinophilic Leukemia //(CEL). They said that although Glivec has a good track record, it is known to cause resistance after some time and hence the need to use an alternative drug. This f...

Glivec Enhances Survival Rates In Leukemia

Glivec, a drug used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia has shown to improve the survival rates in 90 percent of patients with the cancer.// The National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which regulates drug approvals in the UK had only wanted to approve Glivec for advanced cases, but the drug has not proved itself in clinical trials. CML is a common form of blood ca...

Increased Childhood Leukemia Risk If House Is Near Power Lines

A charity called Children with Leukemia has urged MSPs to intervene to stop new housing developments near areas where there are power lines//. The charity said that health concerns were forcing people to reconsider buying houses in such areas. "It's a very clear message for the policy makers in Scotland - even those Scottish people not affected want a moratorium on new building where...

Little Makoda-Poster Girl For Leukemia Awareness Campaign Losses Her Battle Of Life

Three-year-old Makoda Suen had passed away last Thursday from an acute form of leukemia. She was the poster girl for the B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation's latest awareness campaign for bone marrow donors//. Makoda Suen had passed away three months after a worldwide campaign was launched to find the 3yr old a blood or bone marrow transplant. Makoda's parents, David and Joyce Suen,...

Scientists Isolate Leukemia Stem Cells in Mouse Model

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital Boston and their colleagues have isolated rare cancer stem cells that cause leukemia in a mouse model// of the human disease. The leukemia stem cells isolated proved to be surprisingly different from normal blood stem cells -- a finding that may be good news for developing a drug that selectively targets them. <b...

Gene Responsible For Mammary Gland Function, When Mutated Results in Leukemias

According to the investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital it was found that a gene responsible for regulating the normal mammary gland function during nursing can also initiate leukemias. // This gene results in leukemia only if it undergoes mutation and fuses with another gene. The discovery of the normal function of this gene suggests that drugs used to inhibit the activi...

Prisoner Admitted In the Hospital Dies of Leukemia

Leon Raj, 28 was arrested on July 1 and was taken into police custody from Kuttipuram. He was sent to Perinthalmanna sub-jail by the judicial first class magistrate court.// The police said that he was arrested because he was found moving in a suspicious circumstance. He hailed from Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu and was the son of Kilapporur Thomas. Raj, a remand pris...

Thrombosis, a Serious Risk in Children with Leukemia

Thrombosis is a serious complication that can occur in children affected by acute lymphoblastic leukemia and can in turn lead to heart attack, pulmonary embolism and other cardiovascular diseases//. It is the result of a research performed in Italy by the Laboratory of Genetic and Environmental Epidemiology and the Onco-Haematology Unit of the Catholic University in collaboration with t...

Medication Errors Affect Leukemia Treatment In Children

Research published in the September 15, 2006 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, says that around one in five children// does not receive the correct chemotherapy treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). And the main reason for this is medication errors. The study says that more than 10 percent of chemotherapeutic medications were given incorrectly to...

Princess Kiko Offers To Donate Cord Blood For Leukemia Transplantation

Princess Kiko of Japan, who gave birth to a male heir today, has offered to donate the blood in the umbilical cord for transplantation to leukemia patients, Masao// Nakabayashi, director of Aiiku Hospital in Tokyo told reporters. Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko made the offer after she gave birth by Caesarean section on Wednesday morning. "We'd like to register it on her request," N...

Mouse Gene With Gene Stutter Will Help Leukemia Research

Cancer researchers have developed a new strain of mice that should help reveal how an unusual change in a certain gene contributes to a particularly deadly form of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).// A study of the strain by its developers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) suggests that the genetic change comes early in the disease, and that it over-activat...

Three Molecular Triggers Threaten Leukemia Patients

The road to better treatment for the most common form of adult leukemia will require blocking multiple molecular pathways that fuel the disease//, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Oct. 1 edition of the journal Blood. The research team examined blood and bone marrow samples of 188 adults with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and then foll...