national Beat AML 1.0 program<\/a> said the new study builds directly on the work of that national initiative to help transform and expand treatments for AML.<\/p>\n\u201cThis combination was nominated from the Beat AML data, and Dr. Stewart validated that prediction, showing not only that it works, but why,\u201d Tyner said.<\/p>\n
The study found that AML cells exposed to venetoclax alone try to adapt by increasing protein production, a shift that helps them survive. Adding palbociclib, a drug approved for breast cancer, blocked this adaptation by regulating protein-production machinery inside the cell.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatient samples that responded strongly to the combination showed clear downregulation of genes involved in protein synthesis,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cThis was a big clue.\u201d<\/p>\n
A genome-wide CRISPR screen also revealed that while venetoclax alone becomes more effective when protein-production genes are lost, the combination therapy does not rely on that same vulnerability \u2014 a sign the two drugs work together to shut down multiple survival pathways.<\/p>\n
The research team tested the combination using mouse models implanted with human AML cells carrying mutations known to cause venetoclax resistance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this model, venetoclax alone didn\u2019t extend survival at all \u2014 just as we\u2019d expect based on the genetics,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cBut with the combination, the majority of mice lived 11 to 12 months. In fact, one mouse was still alive when the study ended.\u201d<\/p>\n
A personal connection, following the data<\/p>\n
Stewart says the project holds personal significance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a breast cancer survivor and was treated here at OHSU, so I know what it\u2019s like to be a patient with cancer,\u201d she said. \u201cThe hope that research and clinical trials can bring \u2014 that\u2019s what motivates me. Working on AML gave me a way to contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both researchers emphasized the importance of following scientific data even when it leads outside traditional boundaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome might ask why a breast cancer drug would work in AML,\u201d Tyner said. \u201cBut biology can be shared across very different cancers. This is a great example of why keeping an open mind matters and following the data where it leads.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart said the team is already evaluating other drugs similar to palbociclib \u2014 many of them also approved for breast cancer \u2014 to expand future clinical trial options. The researchers hope to move the combination toward clinical testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t tested it in patients yet, but based on everything we\u2019ve seen, our prediction is that this combination would mitigate most known resistance mechanisms to the current standard therapy,\u201d Tyner said. \u201cMaking it a clinical reality will take work, but this is exactly why we do what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to Stewart and Tyner, other OHSU coauthors on this study include: Jessica Gibbs, B.S., Kevin Watanabe-Smith, Ph.D., Ariel Nguyen, M.S., Isabel Kenna, B.A., Karina Thiel-Klare, B.S., Andy Kaempf, M.S., Daniel Bottomly, M.S., Stephen Kurtz, Ph.D., Christopher A. Eide, B.A., Nicola Long, B.A., Jennifer N. Saultz, D.O., Luca Sax, B.S., Ariane Huang, B.S., Shannon K. McWeeney, Ph.D., and Bill H. Chang, M.D., Ph.D.<\/p>\n
This study was supported by the National Cancer Institute, of the National Institutes of Health, under Award numbers U54CA224019 and R01CA262758; as well as the Waldman Family Fund for AML Research, the George Ettelson Endowed Professorship in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Research, the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, the Silver Family Foundation, and the Marsha and Richard Wright Sr Family Endowed Professorship of Pediatric Oncology. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or other funders. The authors thank all the patients for the generous use of their samples and thank the Massively Parallel Sequencing Shared Resource for Illumina sequencing support and the flow cytometry core at OHSU.<\/p>\n
All research involving animal subjects at OHSU must be reviewed and approved by the university\u2019s\u00a0Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee<\/a>\u00a0(IACUC). The IACUC\u2019s priority is to ensure the health and safety of animal research subjects. The IACUC also reviews procedures to ensure the health and safety of the people who work with the animals. The IACUC conducts a rigorous review\u00a0of\u00a0all animal research proposals to ensure they demonstrate scientific value and justify the use of live animals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeffrey Tyner, Ph.D., and Melissa Stewart, Ph.D., led a team at OHSU that discovered a new drug combination…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[172695,64,63,17579,137,15302],"class_list":["post-378734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-acute-myeloid-leukemia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-breast-cancer","tag-health","tag-oregon-health-amp-science-university-ohsu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"OHSU](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251216+AML+drug+4_5789e799-a13f-4f9a-8778-f8be017318f7-prv.jpg\" "\\"Jeffrey")
<\/p>\n![\"Melissa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251216+Melissa+Stewart+5_s.jpg\" "\\"Melissa")
<\/p>\n![\"Jeffrey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251216+Jeff+Tyner+1_s.jpg\" "\\"Jeffrey")
<\/p>\n