Study offers hope in bid to stop cancer drug resistance
Study finds treatment resistance in AML patients declined when hydroxyurea, gemcitabine and triapine drugs were used in combination with cytarabine. PHOTO | FOTOSEARCH
A remedy for treatment resistance in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) has been found, according to a study.
AML is one of the most common forms of blood cancer. This remedy has been discovered by a medical study in human blood cells that was performed at Karolinska Institutet and SciLifeLab, Sweden.
In the treatment of AML, one of the most commonly used drugs is Cytarabine (ara-C). But, the study noted that this treatment did not work on most patients.
However, treatment resistance in patients declined when hydroxyurea, gemcitabine and triapine drugs were used in combination with cytarabine. “Hydroxyurea is used in the treatment of AML. Gemcitabine is used in the treatment of multiple cancers, but is toxic when repeatedly administered, while triapine is a cancer drug undergoing clinical trials. This leaves the combination of the inexpensive hydroxyurea drug and Cytarabine (ara-C) as the most potent against treatment resistance,” the study said.
