Deadly acute myeloid leukemia may be controlled by nutritious avocados
Acute myeloid leukemia is a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow that affects immature blood cell growth.It is fatal within five years for 90% of seniors over 65 years of age. Adding University of Waterloo scientists have found that the nutritious fruit may hold the key to beating deadly leukemia. They have discovered a lipid in avocados that combats AML by targeting the root of the disease - leukemia stem cells. The research is published in the Cancer Research.
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The drug is still several years away from becoming approved for use in oncology clinics, but Spagnuolo is already performing experiments to prepare the drug for a Phase I clinical trial.
University of Waterloo Professor Paul Spagnuolo said, "The stem cell is largely responsible for the disease developing and it's the reason why so many patients with leukemia relapse.
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We performed many rounds of testing to determine how the new drug worked at a molecular level and confirmed that it targets stem cells selectively, leaving healthy cells unharmed. Not only does avocatin B eliminate the source of AML, but its targeted, selective effects makes it less toxic to the body, too."
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