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Chinese researchers have developed a new
drug that can inhibit blood cancer growth with less harm to healthy
cells than current therapies. The
drug CHMFL-FLT3-362 is designed to treat patients with a form of acute
myeloid leukemia (AML) in which the kinase FLT3 is mutated, researchers
at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science under the Chinese Academy of
Sciences said. AML is a type of
blood cancer that affects the bone marrow, blood and other parts of the
body including spleen, lymph nodes and liver. FLT3 mutations occur in
30% of AML patients. Without treatment, AML patients will die in weeks
or months. Most current inhibitors
that have hit the market are unable to distinguish the FLT3 from
structurally similar kinase cKIT, which might lead to side effects such
as anemia, irregular bleeding and an absence of hair color. Thus, there is an urgent need for a safer and more effective drug, said lead researcher Liu Qingsong. The
new drug, a third-generation FLT3 kinase inhibitor, can deliver
cancer-killing power concentrated on tumors with minimal harm to healthy
cells. In experiments on mice,
researchers found the inhibitor displayed high anti-tumor efficacy and
achieved the tumor growth inhibition of 95%, which extended the survival
of mice. They also made a comparison
between it and another targeted FLT3 inhibitor Midostaurin approved to
market. The results showed that the new drug could reduce the occurrence
of tail malformation in zebrafish, a test animal, indicating it has
relatively lower toxicity. The study led by Liu Qingsong and Liu Jing was published in the academic journal of Haematologica. In
the recent five years, the Anhui Province-based research team has
gained rich experience in AML drug development. In 2018, the
first-generation inhibitor HYML-122 was approved by China National Drug
Administration for clinical trials. According
to the researchers, they would carry out further safety tests soon to
make the new inhibitor ready for clinical trials.
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