Exploring the Mechanism of Ara-C Resistance in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Additional contributors: Susan K. Rathe; David A. Largaespada (faculty mentor)Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common and most deadly type of leukemia in adults, affecting approximately 3 people per 100,000. AML is typically treated with a cocktail of chemotherapeutic drugs, most often involving the pharmaceutical agent cytosinearabinoside (Ara-C). Treatment with Ara-C will almost always cause remission in AML patients. However, developed resistance to Ara-C becomes a problem for many patients suffering from the disease, and many relapse within a few years of remission. We are using an in vitro system to model the Ara-C resistance in AML cell lines.Funding for this project was provided by The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (grant 7019-04)