Blocking Enzyme Could Help Childhood Leukemia

Recent reports claim that researchers may have found a simple enzyme that could treat childhood leukemia. The discovery was made by U.S. researchers and announced worldwide earlier this week. According to the researchers, the finding could also form the basis for a new class of cancer medications. The blocking enzyme reportedly could keep an abnormal protein known as Dot1 from turning on genetic switches in babies.

These genetic switches are responsible for causing the fatal form of cancer known as acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

“The way that this protein causes harm is by recruiting this enzyme and turning on genes that shouldn’t be turned on,” explains Dr. Scott Armstrong of Children’s Hospital Boston, a well-known researcher whose work appears in the journal Cancer Cell.

Researcher Weighs in on New Leukemia Finding

According to Armstrong, the finding could lead to a potential new form of therapy for children, which is very hopeful. Since the enzyme could help treat ALL, researchers also believe the same could be true for other forms of cancer.

“If you turn the enzyme off, which we’ve done, the genes that shouldn’t be on are turned off,” says Armstrong.

The new findings were revealed after Armstrong and his colleagues conducted several studies on mice with this particular form of ALL. They reportedly found that the abnormal protein, known as MML-AF4, is required in conjunction with the enzyme Dot1 to make any significant changes in the cell.

A study of cell samples conducted on children with this type of leukemia reportedly suggested that these same changes could take place in human beings as well. Armstrong states that the need for this kind of treatment is especially important with this type of ALL, which only makes up 5 percent of ALL cases. However, 70 percent of these cases affect infants.