Computer Model as Guide for Treatment Selection in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia: Study Reveals - Video

Researchers, in a new study, used their computer model as a guide for treatment selection for patients with chronic myelogenous leukaemia. The study highlights a new method that can help people with a specific type of blood cancer get the best medicine for them. Findings are present in PLOS Computational Biology.

Today, the most effective form of treatment for chronic myelogenous leukaemia is stem cell transplantation. Many can avoid transplantation if they receive effective help with medication instead. The vast majority of people can manage without it, as long as they receive effective medications called thyrokinase inhibitors. But there are five different medications for chronic myelogenous leukaemia, and it is important to find the most effective one.

The medications attack an enzyme. The goal of the medications is to slow down the problematic overproduction of cells in the blood.

However, mutations can cause the medications to lose all or part of their effect against blood cancer. The new model indicated which drugs should be selected for which mutation than the usual current methods.

“We have developed a computer model that can help us say which drugs work best, and thus are best suited for each patient,” says Professor Ran Friedman at Linnaeus University.

Reference: J. Roadnight Sheehan, Astrid S. de Wijn, Thales Souza Freire, Ran Friedman. Beyond IC50—A computational dynamic model of drug resistance in enzyme inhibition treatment. Published: November 7, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012570