Targeting nutrient use by childhood blood cancers

Amino acids are key nutrients which enable cells to survive and multiply. The Mussai-De Santo group have previously shown that by depleting one specific nutrient, arginine, a range of adult and childhood cancer cells die in the laboratory setting. The findings led to an international clinical trial for children with cancer (PARC) and international trials for adults with solid tumours (USA) and blood cancers (UK-Europe). The trials are ongoing and led by the Mussai-De Santo group in Birmingham.

Nutrients enter cells through specialised pores (transporters) in the cell surface. In this project we will investigate which other nutrients are being consumed by a childhood blood cancer (Acute Myeloid Leukaemia) for growth and survival. Using a specific new drug, we will block the surface transporters in laboratory models of leukaemia cells and aim to starve the cells into dying. We will look at the molecular effects inside Acute Myeloid Leukaemia cells treated with the drug and investigate if the drug can be combined with other standard treatments.

Unlike chemotherapies which lead to many immediate and long-term major side-effects, this drug has anti-cancer activity in adult clinical trials but has minimal side-effects. Building on our experience of translating new drugs approaches into the clinical setting, the research could provide the basis for a future clinical trial for children with relapsed/refractory Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.