Researchers from Rutgers Health and other institutions have discovered why a powerful leukemia drug eventually fails in most patients—and found a potential way to overcome that resistance.

Team members identified a protein that lets cancer cells reshape their energy-producing mitochondria in ways that protect them from venetoclax (brand name, Venclexta), a standard treatment for acute myeloid leukemia that often loses effectiveness after prolonged use.

Blocking that protein with experimental compounds in mice with human acute myeloid leukemia restored the drug’s effectiveness and prolonged survival.