|  |  |  | | | | BIRMINGHAM RESEARCHERS TACKLE MOST COMMON LEUKAEMIA | | | | |
| |  Researchers exploring most common leukaemia
Release Date: 13th March 2006
A team of Birmingham researchers are working to improve treatments for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) – the most common leukaemia in the western world.
In around 25% of 2,750 people diagnosed with CLL each year, there is a defect in one of the key genes associated with the disease. This leads to a poor outcome as the drugs cannot work to kill the cancerous cells.
Dr Tanja Stankovic and her team based at the Institute for Cancer Studies on the University of Birmingham campus will explore ways of overcoming this genetic mistake by stopping the cell survival mechanism and forcing the cancerous cells to die.
"We are hoping that this work can improve treatment success for patients and can be transferred from the test tube into clinical trials, making a real difference to the lives of CLL patients," says Dr Stankovic.
Dr Belinda Austen, who is also based at the Institute of Cancer Studies, has been awarded the Leukaemia Research Clinician Scientist Award. Dr Austen will be looking to why some patients with CLL develop a resistance to the drugs which are used as part of their treatment.
"By studying the damage to DNA caused by chemotherapy drugs, I hope to be able to see why the DNA builds a resistance to standard treatment," says Dr Austen, 33. "This can lead the way to develop methods to sensitise the leukaemia and effectively kill the cancer cells."
CLL is a form of blood cancer that affects the lymphocytes in the blood. Lymphocytes are white blood cells which produce antibodies and are vital parts of the body’s immune system.
Leukaemia Research has committed over £745,000 to these projects, bringing hope to CLL patients across the UK.
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