Promise of targeted drug for rare leukemias comes with Karnataka connection

Komal Javarappa, a scientist who worked as part of the research team at the University of Helsinki, told DH that the study analysed diverse leukemia subtypes

Targeted drugs have reinforced the treatment of cancer even as researchers fast-track studies on the resistance cancer cells develop against these precision therapies.

A new study by researchers in Finland and Denmark has identified a targeted drug that could counter resistance in two rare subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) – the cancer of the blood and bone marrow – that have limited treatment options. The findings from the study conducted by the University of Helsinki, HUS Comprehensive Cancer Centre, and the University of Copenhagen are expected to improve the prognosis of erythroid and megakaryoblastic leukemias and make the selection of targeted drugs more precise. Studies estimate that the two subtypes account for less than 5 per cent of all AML cases.

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The study showed that cells grouped under the two subtypes depended on BCL-XL for their survival. BCL-XL is a protein that prevents apoptosis or programmed cell death. The researchers tested 528 drugs for their efficacy on 21 human leukemic cell lines and AML patients and found BCL-XL protein inhibitors to be highly effective in killing the cancer cells.

“Given the poor prognosis associated with erythroid and megakaryoblastic leukemias and the limited targeted therapy options, we propose BCL-XL as a viable target for further exploration in the treatment of these leukemia subtypes,” the researchers said. The study has appeared in Blood, the peer-reviewed journal published by The American Society of Hematology.

An article on the study published on the University of Helsinki’s website quoted Heikki Kuusanmaki, postdoctoral researcher, as saying that the findings validated patients with the two forms of leukemia as a “promising group” to test BCL-XL inhibitors’ efficacy in clinical use.

The Karnataka connection

Komal Kumar Javarappa, a translational scientist who worked as part of the research team at the University of Helsinki, told DH that the study analysed diverse leukemia subtypes with different genetic mutations to arrive at a potentially effective therapy. A native of Arakalgud in Karnataka’s Hassan district, Komal is a specialist in flow cytometry – a laser-based technique that is used to detect and analyse the properties of cells and other particles – with research experience in immunology and hematological malignancies.

Komal, now doing research at the National University of Singapore, received his Master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Mysore, in 2012. His postdoctoral research included work on stem cells and leukemia, at institutions in Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.

“The study involved tracking of cell signaling pathways (which also indicates the characteristic changes in cancer cells). With a larger cohort, we can track the impact of the drug on a more diverse dataset,” he said.