Researchers have developed a new method to distinguish between cancerous and healthy stem cells and progenitor cells from samples of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a disease driven by malignant blood stem cells that have historically been difficult to identify.
Cancer stem cells that elude conventional treatments like chemotherapy drive long-term cancer growth and relapse. These cells are difficult to isolate and study because of their low abundance and similarity to other stem cells. Researchers have created a new method that can distinguish cancer stem cells, mature cancer cells and otherwise healthy stem cells based on their genetics and gene expression. The findings open new avenues for cancer research personalised medicine.
Single Cell Transcriptomics Could Help Eradicate Leukemia More Effectively
March 1, 2021
Immature blood cells in leukemia [Source: toeytoey2530/Getty Images]
Research from an international collaboration shows that a single-cell omics approach can identify mutational status and characterize gene expression in hematopoietic stem cells from acute myeloid leukemia patients and successfully identify disease causing cells.
Treatments exist for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but while these often succeed initially, patients often relapse. Indeed, less than 15% of patients over the age of 60 survive for 5 years after treatment for this reason.
“Only cancer stem cells, residing at the top of the hierarchy, are able to fuel long-term cancer growth and drive relapse, whereas the bulk of the cancer consists of rapidly dividing cells with limited capacity for self-renewal,” write the researchers in the journal article describing the study in
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Barcelona [Spain], March 1 (ANI): A new study by researchers of the Centre for Genomic Regulation claims to have the potential to boost international research efforts in finding drugs that eradicate cancer at its source.