Acute myeloid leukemia 'model' may be important research tool for many cancer treatments

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (ALSAC)
Thursday, 28 February 2002

(Memphis, Tennessee, February 28, 2002) A method that enables scientists to study the development of an acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in mice should open new research paths for scientists studying cancer in humans.

The findings were published in the Feb. 26, 2002, edition of the journal Cancer Cell by scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. James R. Downing, M.D., chairman of the St. Jude Pathology department, led the research.

The study is the first to give scientists a way to control the genetic expression of specific cellular targets. The method, known as modeling, involved implanting into mice a mutated protein considered a trigger of AML. Though modeling is common, this method involved inserting an allele, or a pair of genes, into mice. The procedure mimics the same cellular process in humans.

"The experimental strategy used should have broad applications for generating other animal models of human cancer," Downing said. "This leukemia mouse model will help us devise better ways to diagnose this type of leukemia, predict a patient's chance for cure using conventional therapy and develop new therapies."

The mouse model is based on one of the most common types of AML, known as a core binding factor leukemia. In this kind of AML, portions of chromosomes 8 and 21 break apart and are rearranged. As a result, an abnormal protein is formed, which is a fusion of two normal proteins, AML1 and ETO. AML1 is a key regulator of normal blood formation and is frequently altered in leukemias.

This AML is one of the most common types of pediatric and adult leukemias.

Through a recently created national consortium, the National Cancer Institute is seeking to develop a comprehensive panel of mouse models of human cancer. The mouse model created at St. Jude is an outgrowth of that effort.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, in Memphis, Tenn., was founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas. The hospital is an internationally recognized biomedical research center dedicated to finding cures for catastrophic diseases of childhood. The hospital's work is supported through funds raised by ALSAC. ALSAC covers all costs not covered by insurance for medical treatment rendered at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Families without insurance are never asked to pay.

For more information, or to contact St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (ALSAC), see their website at: www.stjude.org