Doctors and scientists have been looking for a cure for cancer for years. Although there have been advancements in treatment plans and methods, there is still no absolute cure. However, a pill that's in its early trials is showing good results for leukemia patients.
Revumenib
The experimental pill developed by Syndax has given results when it comes to a form of leukemia that is hard to treat. The Phase I trial showed that almost half of the patients who were given the drug responded to it, while about a third led to a complete remission of cancer.
The drug inhibits a protein called menin, which interacts with lysine methyltransferase 2A or KMT2A, which is an epigenetic regulator. The said interaction is a dependence in acute leukemia, which follows the rearrangement of KMT2A or mutations of the NPM1 gene.
Research says that the rearrangements happen in up to 10% of acute leukemias while the NPM1 mutations happen in up to 30%, which leads to the most common genetic alteration in acute myeloid leukemia, according to the study.
The form of leukemia related to the KMT2A rearrangement affects both young and adult patients and has a low five-year survival rate of 25%. 68 patients with relapsed or refractory acute leukemia participated in the trial.
The first phase was meant to test the optimal dose for the treatment.54% showed a response to the revumenib and 18 patients had complete remission. The drug had particular side effects like irregular heartbeats, but according to Gizmodo, none were severe enough to stop treatment.
Scott Armstrong, an author of the study, expressed that it was a very encouraging result for patients with acute leukemia who have done other treatments before. Sadly, the second study showed that some patients developed resistance to the drug.
The study showed that the form of cancer does depend on menin in order to grow and spread. And that the drugs were able to inhibit the protein. But, further studies will be needed to determine how to prevent the patients from building a resistance to it.
The results of the fiesta and second phase may be finalized within the year. If the drug shows promise, the company responsible for the drug says that it could file for FDA approval before the year ends, which would make revumenib the first drug to inhibit menin.
In Other News
It was also discovered in January this year that UV lamps for nail polish caused rare forms of skin cancer to its users. Researchers conducted experiments with human and mouse cells and found that 30% of the cells in the petri dish exposed in a 20-minute lamp session died.
After continuing to expose the cells beyond 20 minutes, 65% to 70% of the cells also died. The remaining cells that survived the exposure showed signs of damage, especially to their mitochondria and DNA, according to Engadget.
UV nail polish lamps have been preferred by both clients and estheticians due to the nail polish being harder to chip off. It is also faster in terms of curing to avoid damaging it while it's still wet. Sadly, the radiation from UV lamps may increase the risk of early-onset skin cancer.
