From the ground-breaking early discoveries of Professor Metcalf to exciting new approaches, advances in the treatment of blood cancers, like leukaemia, have steadily led to increased survival and better outcomes.
Now, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, Dr Omer Gilan is adding new insights and potential new treatment options for people diagnosed with leukaemia.
Omer and his team have been “looking under the hood” of leukaemia cells by exploring the epigenetic landscape, which is a way of switching genes on and off without changing the DNA sequence.
“We discovered there's this protein, called ‘Menin’, that is needed by a very aggressive type of leukaemia,” said Omer. “It was just by tinkering with the cells and understanding how they are kept alive that this therapy, called a ‘Menin inhibitor’, was able to be developed.”
The team found that by switching off important genes that leukaemia cells rely on to grow and survive, Menin inhibitors can not only temporarily slow cancer cells down, but they can also “hit the brakes on the cancer cells”.
By permanently “switching off” key leukaemia-driving genes, Menin inhibitors could help stop the cancer from coming back or becoming resistant to treatment.
The team has also identified another drug target (Casein Kinase 2 alpha) that may work well when combined with Menin inhibitors. Early lab results show this combination is highly effective against acute myeloid leukaemia cells, and the team is now working to test this further.
“Research is very challenging, with many failures. So, when you do find something exciting, it can be really rewarding to see that,” said Omer.
For patients, the research by Omer and his team could lead to more effective and better-tolerated treatment options for aggressive forms of leukaemia, particularly for people whose cancer has returned or is not responding to existing therapies. By understanding more about how cancer cells respond to Menin inhibitors, the team may also find a way to predict or prevent resistance before it develops.
Omer’s work is another important step in improving knowledge of how cancer cells can be “reprogrammed”, so they become more vulnerable to treatment, helping guide future research into targeted therapies, not only for leukaemia but potentially for other cancers too.