A two-drug combination kills leukemia cells by shutting down their energy source and hastening cell starvation, according to new research from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The preclinical investigation found that combining a novel glycolysis inhibitor, 3-BrOP, with an mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin, killed more than 90% of cells in human tissue cultures of acute lymphocytic leukemia. Lead researcher Lauren Akers, DO, a postdoctoral fellow at the Children's Cancer Hospital at M. D. Anderson, presented the results of the study at the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology annual conference in May. Cancer cells are highly dependent on glycolysis, a process that turns glucose into energy for cells. The 3-BrOP inhibits that process while allowing healthy cells to get energy from respiration, Akers said. Rapamycin keeps cancer cells from coping with stress, thus resulting in cell death; and when the two drugs are combined, it creates a synergistic effect, she said.

http://Eurekalert.org/, "New drug combination brings 1-2 punch against acute leukemia." 2008. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uotm-ndc.051508.php (16 May 2008).