Varsha Gandhi, Ph.D. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

NEW DRUGS

Targeting anti-apoptotic proteins in CLL

Update:

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is an incurable disease representing the most common type of adult leukemia in the western world. This disorder is characterized by disrupted cell death pathway rather than increased rate of proliferation. The CLL cell death pathway is disrupted because of an overexpression of anti-apoptotic proteins belonging to Bcl-2 family proteins. Recently, agents have been identified that target these anti-apoptotic proteins directly by binding to them. Such an action results in inhibition of these proteins leading to removal of survival advantage from the CLL cells. We used two different agents (gossypol and AT-101) to target Bcl-2 family of anti-apoptotic proteins. We demonstrated mechanism of action of these agents and cytotoxicity in CLL cells. We published three papers in the journal Blood.