A group of scientists led by Danilo Perrotti (Danilo Perrotti) announced the successful testing of a new drug for the treatment of leukemia (blood cancer).

Studies show that a new drug, known as FTY720, is able to suppress the growth of tumor cells of myeloid leukemia in models of mice suffering from this disease. The drug is designed to treat cancer caused by protein BCR-ABL, and this is almost all cases of exacerbation of chronic leukemia and some - acute.

Because the drug also inhibited tumor growth in human cell culture, scientists hope that in the future it can be used for the treatment of acute and chronic leukemia.

Moreover, FTY720 showed no toxicity during preclinical or clinical trials.

The mechanism of action of the drug is based on stimulating the phosphatase 2A protein, which signals the tumor cells to stop dividing. Old drugs for the treatment of leukemia have been based on the inhibition of BCR-ABL kinase (imatinib) and in some are not fully effective, so the appearance of a new drug may increase survival in the diagnosis of "leukemia".

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