New Drug Targets Three Kinds of Leukemia Posted: 04-12-08 12:38pm
Just three years after discovering a
genetic mutation that causes a trio of
leukemias, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
(HHMI) researchers have helped move a new
leukemia drug into clinical trials.
The Food and Drug Administration approved
human clinical trials of the drug based on
strong preclinical data and additional
studies in mice showing that the drug
eliminates clinical manifestation of the
leukemias without any significant
toxicity. Some of the data that laid the
foundation for the clinical trials are now
being reported in the April 7, 2008, issue
of the journal Cancer Cell by D. Gary
Gilliland and colleagues at Brigham and
Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical
School in Boston. Scientists at TargeGen
Inc., in San Diego., and the Mayo Clinic
are also coauthors of the article.
