According to a research published in the latest issue of the journal Blood, a drug against chronic lymphocytic leukemia and other hematologic cancers called AICAR (5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside) could be the therapeutic alternative for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. This study has enabled a better understanding of the mechanism of action of the drug.

AICAR is the first therapeutic molecule against cancer patented by a Spanish public centre that has reached the clinical trial stage. The drug was developed in 2003 by researchers of the current group of Apoptosis and Cancer at Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the Department of Physiological Sciences II at the University of Barcelona (UB), led by Joan Gil. In 2004, development and exploitation rights of the product were acquired by the company Advancell, being produced under the trade name of Acadra™.

The advantage is that the new drug is capable of acting on malignant cells without attacking the healthy ones, since currently available drugs eliminate healthy T cells - which are part of the immunological system that protects the organism against infections - along with tumour cells. As a result of this, patients may become immunocompromised.

According to the research coordinator, Joan Gil, "this fact means that AICAR could be an interesting therapeutic alternative for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia with altered p53 function and resistance to conventional chemotherapy."

The research has had the cooperation of the Clinical Hematology Service of the Catalan Institute of Oncology and the Hematology Department of the Bellvitge University Hospital. Researchers of the University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, Santander, the Innsbruck Medical University, Austria, and the Cochin Institute and the Paris Descartes University, France, have also collaborated.