Using RNA to alter the metabolism in acute myeloid leukaemia cells

The challenge

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) develops when the body produces too many early blood cells that cannot mature into healthy white blood cells. Instead, they build up rapidly and spread throughout the body, preventing the immune system from working properly. 

In 2013, Dr Carmela De Santo’s team at the University of Birmingham discovered that AML cells burn through nutrients far faster than normal cells. In doing this, they drain essential resources from their surroundings, starving nearby immune cells. This slows down and weakens the immune system’s anti-cancer defences, eventually stopping it altogether. By draining resources, AML can dominate inside the body, making it much harder to cure.
 

The project

Now, Dr De Santo’s team is investigating one of the process that AML cells use to create this immune-suppressive environment and avoid attack by the body's natural defences. This project will test a new way to disrupt this process in AML cells, reducing their ability to suppress immune function and ultimately killing the cancer cells. To do this, the researchers will use specially designed particles to deliver tiny fragments of genetic code specifically to AML cells, minimising effects on healthy cells.

Alongside this, the team will analyse childhood AML samples to better understand how this pathway varies between different forms of the disease. This will help identify which patients may benefit most from this new treatment approach.
 

The impact

If successful, this research could lay the foundation for a new type of RNA-based targeted treatment, one that can help the immune system fight AML more effectively. By boosting the child’s own immune response, these treatments could be more precise, reduce long term side effects and able to significantly improve outcomes and quality of life for children with AML.