A better roadmap for beating a deadly leukemia
Jeffrey Tyner, Ph.D., co-led new research that zeros in on a potential drug target to stop acute myeloid leukemia. (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks)
Acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, is the most common acute blood cancer in adults — and one of the most difficult to treat. Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered a potential new target for stopping it: a gene that, when active, predicts worse chances of survival.
The discovery is the latest yield of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute’s Beat AML project — a comprehensive platform for analyzing the DNA and RNA of leukemia cells, their sensitivity or resistance to drugs, and the medical outcomes of more than 800 people with AML from across the country who donated samples to the effort.
“It’s giving us a better roadmap for understanding this disease,” said Jeff Tyner, Ph.D., co-senior author of a paper describing the new findings in Cancer Cell. Tyner is a professor of cell, developmental and cancer biology in the OHSU School of Medicine.
Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation is proud to fund Dr. Tyner’s work!