UCLA scientists discover protein that can accelerate cancer patients’ recovery after radiation and chemotherapy

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Dr. John Chute Scientists from UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have shown for the first time how a unique protein found in human bone marrow can drive stem cells to repair our blood system after an injury. The groundbreaking findings provide a roadmap that could help scientists make existing radiation and chemotherapy treatments more effective for people with cancer and other blood-related diseases. Led by Dr. John Chute, a UCLA professor of hematology and radiation oncology and a member of the Jonsson Cancer Center, the nearly two-year study was published online by the Journal of Clinical Investigation. It will appear later in the journal’s print edition.  Millions of cancer patients worldwide currently receive some form of radiation therapy or chemotherapy in hopes of curing the disease, and most suffer damage to their blood system as a result. Current therapeutic regimens are also cyclical, generally requiring a 30-day wait period between treatments to allow the blood system time to heal and repair. A key to the new study were hematopoietic stem cells, which can change and become any other type of blood cell, such as red or white blood cells. Scientists have long studied hematopoietic stem cells in the lab, seeking to understand how bone marrow regulates and instructs them to regenerate and repair themselves, which helps our bodies to recover after an injury or stress. In prior research, Chute had discovered that e...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news