Could Unique Lipids Help Fight Leukemia?

Researchers from the University of Basel in Switzerland believe that certain lipid molecules may be helpful in fighting leukemia. A recent study, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, shows that certain lipids actually carry the power to kill tumor cells.

Current therapy for leukemias, a cancer disease that affects blood cells, works to eradicate tumors in the bone-marrow stem cell transplantation that reconstitute the patient with healthy blood cells. In some cases, health officials have even found that the leukemia cells can survive the treatment and start to regrow.

For this study in particular, researchers looked for novel and efficient ways to detect the issue early and eradicate leukemia cells before a second outbreak occurred.

T lymphocytes work as major contributors against leukemias and may also be recognized by tumor-specific protein antigens in some instances that produce large amounts only by tumor cells. These protein antigens stimulate specific T cells that kill leukemia ones, in turn. However, protein TAA accumulation can dramatically change the structure of the T cells and facilitate tumor immune evasion, according to a news release.

For their research, lead study author professor Gennaro De Libero and his team from the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel identified a new approach that could help to make the immune system more efficient while recognizing leukemia cells. They identified the new lipid antigens, methyl-lysophosphatidic acid (mLPA), several years later that accumulate in leukemia cells and that stimulate certain T cell responses. It was found to be very abundant in several forms of human leukemias.

For the study, researchers isolated human T cells that specifically recognize and kill mLPA-expressing leukemia cells in in vitro tests. Just as the cells were transplanted in mice, researchers found that they worked well against the leukemia cells.

Now, the researchers are working to capitalize on whether mLPA can be used to target leukemia cells in addition to protein TAA, a type of therapy that could prove incredibly beneficial in preventing disease relapses following bone marrow transplantation and chemotherapy.