Grant: Operating Grant

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia or CLL is the most common type of leukemia in Canada. This blood cancer cannot be cured with chemotherapy. Glucocorticoids, or steroids, are another form of treatment that can help patients whose tumor cells develop resistance to chemotherapy. Unfortunately CLL cells can develop ways to resist steroids as well. Dr. Spaner's group has found that steroids act by turning off the ability of a tumor cell to produce the energy it needs to grow from sugar and protein. If the tumor cells use fat to generate their energy, or if they turn up their ability to burn sugar or protein, then they become resistant to steroids. If they are prevented from burning fat, or their ability to burn sugar or protein is decreased, then they can again be killed by steroids. In this grant, Dr. Spaner will try to determine the most effective ways to improve the results of steroid therapy. He will compare a number of chemicals that are able to block energy generation by leukemia cells in a test tube and in mice in order to determine one that can be used to develop a treatment for patients. If these studies are successful, they may result in better treatments for CLL that may also work for other cancers.