Cancer Therapy Advisor // January 2, 2020 // Luisa Torres, Ph .
The marine-derived compound trabectedin depletes both human primary leukemic cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, according to a new study published in Cancer Immunology Research.1 The researchers think their findings could lead to a new therapy that targets both leukemic cells and the protumor microenvironment, repairing the immune dysfunction that is characteristic of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
CLL is characterized by lymphocyte accumulation in the blood, bone marrow, and lymphoid tissues.2 Recent advances in CLL therapy have come from finding and targeting the appropriate molecular pathways of the disease, explained Kanti R. Rai, MD, a professor of medicine and molecular medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell who wasn’t involved in the study. Dr Rai said that, for instance, the Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib binds to the receptor and affects B-cell–receptor signaling. Another drug, venetoclax, an antagonist to BCL2, can effectively induce apoptosis in CLL cells. However, treatment of this disease remains challenging due to its immunosuppressive nature. “If we [are] to attain a cure, newer compounds have to be identified which have a different mechanism of controlling CLL,” he said.
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