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ALLG member Associate Professor Steven Lane, haematologist from Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and head of the Cancer Program at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, has led the delivery of new research findings on how early genetic changes in blood and bone marrow cells can lead to the development of blood cancer.

Published in the international journal Nature Communications this week, the study by A/Prof Lane and his team identified a new transcription factor (Cdx2) involved in the development of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in mouse cells. Additionally, they demonstrated the Cdx2 gene in pre-curser and leukaemic cells responded to the anti-leukaemic therapy azacitadine, pointing to Cdx2 gene as a potential new target for the treatment of MDS and AML.

“This research will help understand the way that blood cancers develop from normal cells, and whether there is an optimal way to schedule treatment to get the best outcomes for our patients,” A/Prof Lane said of the study.

You can access the full publication in Nature Communications (Vu, T et al. Haematopoeitic stem and progenitor cell-restricted Cdx2 expression induces transformation to myelodysplasia and acute leukaemia. 2020; 11(1):3021).