Malaria drug shows therapeutic potential in leukemia

The combined use of two well-known active substances can fight leukemic cells and limit their spread. This is the result of a study conducted by the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences (KL Krems) and recently published in the journal Cancer Letters.

The study focused on the combination of the antimalarial drug atovaquone, which has already shown anticancer properties, with the anticancer drug selinexor.

In experiments, the researchers discovered that an established antimalarial drug in combination with a proven anticancer drug influences the activity of a specific transcription factor and thus inhibits the expansion and spread of leukemia cells. The combination not only killed the leukemia cells, but also significantly reduced their infiltration into the bone marrow.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive form of blood cancer in which immature white blood cells proliferate in the bone marrow and interfere with normal blood cell formation. The protein STAT3 is often overactive in these cells. Attempts to inhibit its activity therapeutically have – so far – not been very successful. The research team led by Prof Dr Dagmar Stoiber-Sakaguchi, head of the Division of Pharmacology at the KL Krems, has now investigated a new strategy.