Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the bone marrow and the blood that progresses rapidly without treatment. The National Cancer Institute estimates 20,800 new cases of AML will be diagnosed in 2024, which would represent 1% of new cancer cases in the United States. It is most often diagnosed in people between the ages of 65 and 74, with a median age of 69.
Although uncommon, AML can occur in children. The five-year relative survival rate is 31.9%.
Now, researchers at Purdue University’s College of Science and collaborators have developed a patent-pending compound called HSN748 to treat drug-resistant AML. Their findings are published in the in an article titled, “ .” “Activating mutations of FLT3 contribute to deregulated hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSC/Ps) growth and survival in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), leading to poor overall survival,” the researchers write.
“AML patients treated with investigational drugs targeting mutant FLT3, including Quizartinib and Crenolanib, develop resistance to these drugs. Development of resistance is largely due to acquisition of cooccurring mutations and activation of additional survival pathways, as well as emergence of additional FLT3 mutations. Despite the high prevalence of FLT3 mutations and their clinical significance in AML, there are few targeted therapeutic options available.
We have identified two novel nicotinamide-based FLT3 inhibitors (HSN608 and HSN748) that target FLT3 mutation.