Fwd: New Treatment Avenue Possible

[Guest guest]

From the ACOR list. Sounds promising! Let's hope one of these new ideas will provide the breakthrough we're all waiting for.

Pat**************Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and favorite sites in one place. Try it now. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp & icid=aolcom40vanity & ncid=emlcntaolcom00000010)

Insel, M.D., professor of pharmacology and medicine at the UC San Diego

School of Medicine and his co-workers compared white blood cells in patients

with CLL to those of healthy adults. They found that one form of the group

of enzymes, collectively known as cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases, was

10 times higher in CLL patients than in normal individuals. The specific

type of enzyme, phosphodiesterase 7B (PDE7B), controls the levels of cyclic

AMP (cAMP), a molecule that can promote programmed cell death, a process

that is defective in CLL. The team reports its findings this week in the

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Whereas most cancers have out-of-control cell growth, CLL is characterized

by an overabundance of white blood cells that do not die when they should,

Insel explained.

The scientists subsequently tested the effects of drugs that blocked PDE7B

in CLL cells, and found that this raised cAMP levels and caused CLL cells to

undergo cell death. He explained that since PDE7B degrades cAMP, blocking

PDE7B in essence takes the clamp off of programmed cell death, enabling CLL

cells to die.

" PDE7B is thus a new drug target for CLL, " he said. " We have preliminary

data from patient samples studied in the laboratory showing that we can

increase the killing of CLL cells even more if we block PDE7B and also add

other drugs used to treat CLL. "

He noted that a test for PDE7B might also potentially be used as a way to

detect CLL, though this has yet to be proven. CLL, which usually strikes

adults over age 35, has two major forms. One form progresses slowly, with

few symptoms for years, and can be difficult to detect. The other form is

more aggressive and dangerous. No one knows what makes one form different

from the other. Current therapies have limited effectiveness, especially

once the disease is in its aggressive phase.

The researchers are planning to screen potential drugs to treat CLL based on

the PDE7B-cAMP connection. They are also exploring other potential treatment

strategies to increase cAMP or disrupt its breakdown.

" We think that CLL cells may have found ways to help keep themselves alive

by preventing cAMP from increasing, " Insel said. " This paper provides a

validation of the importance of the cAMP pathway as a target for drugs that

might be used to treat CLL. "

The American Cancer Society estimates that, in 2008, there will be about

15,110 new cases of CLL in the United States. About 4,390 people in this

country will die of CLL during 2008.

Other contributors to the work include Kipps, M.D., Ph.D., Lingzhi

Zhang, Ph.D., Fiona Murray, Ph.D., Anja Zahno, Joan Kanter, Daisy Chou,

Suda, Fenlon, Rassenti, Ph.D. and Cottam, Ph.D.

_____

Adapted from materials provided by <http://www.ucsd.edu/> University of

California - San Diego, via EurekAlert! <http://www.eurekalert.org/> , a

service of AAAS.

Email or share this story: <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php>

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the

following formats:

APA

MLA

University of California - San Diego (2008, December 4). Potential New Drug

Target For Chronic Leukemia. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 4, 2008, from

http://www.sciencedaily.com- /releases/2008/11/081124174901.htm

<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081020093402.htm>

***************************************

Help page http://cll.acor.org/help.htm