As reported by Reuters, there are high hopes for GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) new drug which could be used to treat mixed-lineage leukaemia (MLL), which is the most common type of leakaemia found in babies.
GSK collaborated with Cancer Research UK and Cellzome AG and found that the drug mimics a chemical tag which can help prevent the activation of leukaemia genes.
MLL leukaemia accounts for 80 per cent of cases of acute leukaemia in children, most of which tend not to respond well to traditional leukaemia treatments and the cancer often returns.
The new drug was tested on mice and on human cancer cells in a lab and scientists found that the chemical could halt the disease which means more research can be done in Phase I.