Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have discovered a link between leukemia cells and the cells involved in the formation of human bone. This discovery introduces new possibilities for treatment of leukemia.
Leukemia is a destructive disease that results in a faulty production of normal blood cells. Stem cells from the blood, also called hematopoietic stem cells, develop into mature blood cells and help the body to maintain and balance bone growth and expansion. This study found that even when leukemia cells are found in minute to untraceable numbers in the blood stream, that they still implant into the bone marrow and begin to attack the process for making normal, or healthy, blood cells.
Researchers also learned that leukemia caused low-level and widespread thinning of the bone and ultimately bone loss that is similar to osteoporosis. Early lab experiments indicate that treatment with bisphosphonates, a common class of drug used for people who suffer from bone loss, partially restored bone loss in laboratory animals with leukemia.
While the study is still ongoing and researchers still have many questions to answer, the early results are thought provoking. Researchers hope that they will be able to find new methods to promote normal blood production in patients with blood cancers.
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