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Scientists from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center found that fluoropyrimidine, FdUMP [10], showed efficacy in AML cell lines from humans when tested initially in the laboratory. “We wanted to know whether or not FdUMP [10] had any affect against AML,” said Timothy S. Pardee, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of hematology and oncology at Wake Forest Baptist. “We looked at AML cell lines from humans, and we saw profound efficacy so it works really well. For almost every cell line, it was by far the most potent drug – even when compared to standard chemotherapy treatments. AML is an aggressive malignancy of the bone marrow where the white blood cells that usually protect people from infections become cancerous, leading to bone marrow failure and death. This cancer is characterized by a high relapse rate and resistance to chemotherapy. Pardee’s findings are published in this month’s issue of the journal Blood. FdUMP [10] was first developed 10 years ago by Pardee’s collaborator and co-author, Wake Forest Baptist biochemist William H. Gmeiner, Ph.D., who currently is testing the drug on other types of cancer. Pardee said the drug works by incorporating itself into the cell’s DNA, making it impossible for the cell to complete DNA replication. “That ends with the cell committing suicide and that’s what you want,” he said. To better compare the toxicities of the FdUMP [10] to standard chemotherapies, Pardee and colleagues exposed normal mice to the various treatments to determine the effects on their organs. A veterinary pathologist reviewed all the slides with no knowledge of which mouse was treated with what drug. “He couldn’t tell the difference between the untreated mouse and the FdUMP [10]-treated mouse when it came to the bone marrow because the treated mouse had normal looking marrow. He could not see a difference,” Pardee said. Pardee then did a bone marrow transplant experiment to see if the bone marrow stem cells were injured during any of the treatments. “We found that FdUMP [10] is very good at killing leukemia cells without harming normal ones,” Pardee said. “We’re really excited about these outcomes.” Next steps include preclinical toxicology studies to meet FDA requirements to proceed to Phase 1clinical trials. "We know it's an uphill battle to get this drug into clinical trials, but we’re committed to seeing it through.” FdUMP [10] is manufactured by Salzburg Therapeutics, located in Yadkinville, N.C. Gmeiner is founder/president and Pardee is Chief Medical Officer. Funding support for this research was provided by the Doug Coley Foundation for Leukemia Research, the Frances P. Tutwiler Fund and the Translational Science Institute of Wake Forest Baptist. Additional support was provided by grant funding from the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Health. Media Relations Contacts: Bonnie Davis, bdavis@wakehealth.edu, (336) 716-4977; or Marguerite Beck, marbeck@wakehealth.edu, (336) 716-2415. Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is a fully integrated academic medical center located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The institution comprises the medical education and research components of Wake Forest School of Medicine, the integrated clinical structure and consumer brand Wake Forest Baptist Health, which includes North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Brenner Children’s Hospital, the commercialization of research discoveries through the Piedmont Triad Research Park, as well as a network of affiliated community-based hospitals, physician practices, outpatient services and other medical facilities. Wake Forest School of Medicine is ranked among the nation’s best medical schools and is a leading national research center in fields such as regenerative medicine, cancer, neuroscience, aging, addiction and public health sciences. Wake Forest Baptist’s clinical programs are consistently ranked as among the best in the country by U.S.News & World Report. ### For advertising and promotion on HealthNewsDigest.com please contact Mike McCurdy: tvmike13@HealthNewsDigest.com or 877-634-9180 HealthNewsDigest.com is syndicated worldwide, to thousands of journalists and health-related websites. www.HealthNewsDigest.com Top of Page 
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