Novel therapeutic target shows promise for the treatment of a hard-to-beat childhood leukemia

摘要

A team of researchers from Children's Hospital Boston and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (both MA, USA) have demonstrated how a hard-to-treat leukemia activates cancer-causing genes, and in doing so have isolated a new potential therapeutic target.With modern therapies, the cure rates for the major types of childhood leukemia stand at around 80%. However, the outcome for those with MLL-AF4, a subtype of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), is not as promising. Although the disease is rare among adults, it accounts for 70% of all ALLs that cause infants to fall sick. With chemotherapy achieving a cure rate of below 50%, MLL-AF4 is a disease in need of much attention.