Japanese scientists might have found a way of identifying imatinib resistance

Jul 29, 2010 09:25 GMT  ·  By
Apparent recurrence of treated acute myeloid leukemia after 7-year remission
   Apparent recurrence of treated acute myeloid leukemia after 7-year remission

Imatinib is the standard treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). It is currently sold as Gleevec by Novartis and it was a real revolution back in 2001. Still, one of its main problems is resistance. Even if it is relatively rare (between 2 and 19 percent of cases), it can provoke biological and psychological problems. Researchers at the Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine found a way of determining the appropriate treatment for each patient.

Yusuke Ohba, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor at the Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, and colleagues, developed and tested the viability of a fluorescence resonance energy transfer biosensor in measuring the activity of leukemia cells. Ohba explained: “Using this test, we are now able to identify and predict the most suitable treatment option for individual chronic myeloid leukemia patients. This technique is both sensitive and practical to use; it is especially useful for patients who are in relapse, a case in which the clinician's important decision regarding the next step in treatment must be made quickly and accurately.”

The scientists made several experiments to measure the protein leves and the activity markers within chronic myeloid leukemia lines. Depending on these measurements, they identified the drug-resistant cells within the cultures and also what therapeutic option would be best to approach next, whether it is combination therapy, dose escalation or second generation inhibitors.

“The most critical issue in dealing with imatinib resistance is what to switch over to,” Ohba said. “If the patient is switched to another drug to which they are also resistant, then the treatment will just be a waste of time and detrimental to the patient's condition.”

These results are published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, relates e! Science News.

“The entire cancer community is talking about personalized medicine, and key to that is knowing when an individual person will have a unique response,” said Yingxiao Wang, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the bioengineering department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in an accompanying editorial. “This project is an important step forward.”