Acute myeloid leukemia is one of the deadliest cancers. Leukemic stem cells responsible for the disease are highly resistant to treatment. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), University Hospital of Geneva (HUG), and Inserm has made a breakthrough by identifying some of the genetic and energetic characteristics of these stem cells, notably a specific iron utilization process.
This process could be blocked, leading to the death or weakening of these stem cells without affecting healthy cells. These results, published in Science Translational Medicine , pave the way for new therapeutic strategies. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common blood and bone marrow cancer in adults.
Caused by an increase in immature cells that rapidly destroy and replace healthy blood cells (red and white blood cells and platelets), AML is lethal in half of those affected under the age of 60, and in 85% of those over that age. This unfavorable prognosis may be due to the presence of so-called ''dormant'' or ''quiescent'' leukemic stem cells (LSCs), which evade chemotherapy. Often invisible, these cells can ''wake up'' and reactivate the disease after an apparently successful course of treatment.
Developing therapies that target these cells is therefore a major research challenge. However, the mechanisms controlling them are poorly understood. By identifying genetic and metabolic characteristics specific to LSCs, a team from the UNIGE, HUG, and Inserm is providing new insights, as well.