Sanjay Vignesh

What are the regenerative medicinal effects of stem cell niches on Acute Myeloid Leukemia?

Started Nov. 8, 2023

Abstract or project description

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is one of the most common and fatal types of leukemia, diagnosing an estimated twenty-thousand U.S. patients every year (Key Statistics For AML 1). Regenerative Medicine studies show that stem cell niches in combination with plerixafor and other chemotherapeutic medications help leukemia stem cells (LSCs) stay dormant and protected from the relapse of chemotherapy which effectively treats AML relapse (Villatoro 1). However, LSCs can relapse because either the cancer metastasized, the cancer was unresponsive to the patient’s first treatment, or the treatment couldn’t eradicate all the leukemia cells. CXCR4, which is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration is injected into patients for mobilizing LSCs to the hematopoietic stem cell niche to keep it dormant and protected (Villatoro 3). In newly diagnosed AML patients, a phase 1 clinical study was conducted, and 67% of participants achieved complete remission (Villatoro 3). In elderly AML patients, a phase 1 clinical study was conducted, and 43% of participants achieved complete remission with 11 months of survival (Villatoro 3). In relapsed AML patients, a phase 1/11 clinical study was conducted, and 39% of patients achieved complete remission with 2.5 fold mobilization of AML blasts (Villatoro 3). For this paper, research papers on the topics of current regenerative medicines, tissue engineering, and acute myeloid leukemia were reviewed. Regenerative medicines such as chemotherapy and stem cell niche interactions with plerixafor are able to treat and subdue acute myeloid leukemia (Villatoro 1). Some implications of this paper will include, educating patients and students, adding on to the biomedical research done on acute myeloid leukemia, and expanding the general knowledge about certain regenerative medicines. This literature review goes over the background of AML, evaluates the details of the three clinical trials, and analyzes the trials and their implications.