Stem cell transplantation is used to treat several types of blood cancers, but carries the risk of a life-threatening side effect called graft-versus-host disease. Results from a clinical trial showed adding the investigational drug itacitinib to standard care for 'half-matched' stem cell transplantation may reduce rates of the disease, in which the donor's stem cells attack the patient's healthy tissues ..read more

The first comprehensive map of the dramatic changes that take place in the blood system over the course of the human lifetime could have implications for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and other blood diseases ..read more

A new study has shed light on a previously poorly understood aspect of breast cancer recurrence: how cancer cells survive in bone marrow despite targeted therapies ..read more

Researchers published a dataset covering thousands of methylated sites from hundreds of cancer-derived cultured cells, covering many leukemias, lymphomas and myelomas, from humans and mice. With this data, any researcher can access the epigenetic signature of these tumors for research and clinical purposes. Researchers published a dataset covering thousands of methylated sites from hundreds of cancer-derived cultured cells, covering many leukemias, lymphomas and myelomas, from humans and mice. With this data, any researcher can access the epigenetic signature of these tumors for research and c ..read more

Researchers describe how specific gene activity could potentially enhance immune cell production. The researchers wanted to understand the mechanism of why some hematopoietic stem cells produce more immune cells, while other stem cells produce fewer. The research team pioneered new techniques for understanding the quantitative association between immune cell production and gene expression in lab mice. The scientists labeled individual stem cells with genetic 'barcodes' to track their immune cell production. They then correlated the barcode tracking with measurements of gene expression activity ..read more

Leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children. Treatment involves intensive chemotherapy, which has severe side effects due to its non-specific mode of action. A team has now discovered a site in the DNA of cancer cells that is essential for leukemia cells to survive. Cancer cells in which the gene encoded at this site was modified experimentally died off. The gene locus thus constitutes a promising target for an alternative therapy in the future ..read more

Researchers have developed a new form of gene therapy that can stop cell division in fusion-driven cancer ..read more

Chromosomal instability plays a crucial role in the progression of cancer: it shapes the properties of tumor cells and drives the development of therapy resistance. Scientists used state-of-the-art single-cell analysis methods to analyze the cellular heterogeneity of a specific form of acute myeloid leukemia. Their data show how genetic and non-genetic factors determine the functional heterogeneity of blood cancer cells and reveal new therapeutic targets ..read more

Scientists investigated how an inherited genetic variation common among East Asians contributes to drug resistance in cancer cells, driving more aggressive cancer growth. The team trialled a precision therapy for this group by blocking the action of a protein called MCL-1, successfully killing many of the cancer cells in laboratory studies ..read more

Researchers have found a potential new diagnostic marker that could be used to better detect the level of tissue damage in our bodies ..read more