|  |  |  | | | | UNLOCKING THE BIOLOGICAL SECRETS BEHIND LEUKAEMIA | | | | |
| |  Dr Chris Bunce with his team
Release Date: 27th October 2005
Scientists at the University of Birmingham have received a £1/2million grant for a five-year project to unlock the biological secrets behind leukaemia.
Dr Christopher Bunce and Dr Mark Drayson have secured the grant from Leukaemia Research, the UK's leading blood cancer charity, to learn more about how an enzyme found in leukaemia cells promotes the leukaemia’s survival and growth.
Tests on the enzyme, aldo-ketoreductase (AKR1C3), are already ongoing to develop methods of stopping the leukaemia growth signals it sends out and the work of the Birmingham experts should lead to an even greater understanding of AKR1C3.
“In Birmingham we are equipped to hopefully make a big impact internationally in our work with AKR1C3,” says Dr Bunce. “We have a strong team of medics and cell biologists, and with cutting-edge technology we are able to learn more about the biology of the enzyme, how it can be targeted in patients and to increase effectiveness of treatments.”
The work of Dr Bunce and fellow scientists at the University of Birmingham has already influenced current thinking about new treatments to attack acute myeloid leukaemia, Burkitt’s lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
“Novel approaches to treatments such as those being investigated in Birmingham are a vital field in the fight against leukaemia and lymphomas,” says Dr David Grant, Scientific Director at Leukaemia Research. “Improved chemotherapies have increased survival rates but there is still a long way to go to help patients. Research into cell processes is the next step in helping to improve treatment success rates.”
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