Blog – Page 5

Investigators from the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute have found that adults with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) receiving a less-intensive combination of azacitidine and venetoclax had more than twice as much time before treatment failed, the leukemia returned or worsened, or they died, compared with patients receiving intensive chemotherapy. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the findings could change the initial treatment approach for many patients with AML.

“Less-intensive treatment does not necessarily mean less-effective treatment,” said lead author Amir T. Fathi, MD, director of the Leukemia Program at the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute. “Our goal is to optimally treat acute myeloid leukemia while reducing serious complications and the amount of time patients spend in the hospital.”

The less-intensive combination is already used in older patients or those unable to tolerate intensive chemotherapy. The PARADIGM trial tested whether it could work as well—or better—for patients who could receive intensive chemotherapy, including younger patients.

When we think about metabolism, we usually ask, “What did I eat? How much sugar, fat or protein was in the meal?” But through our research, we have become interested in another question: “When did I eat it?” This matters because metabolism does not work at the same pace throughout the day.

The liver, one of our main metabolic organs, follows daily rhythms that help coordinate how nutrients are processed, stored and used. These rhythms are controlled partly by the molecular circadian clock, present in virtually all body cells, but eating also provides an important signal.

In our recent study published in Cell Reports, we set out to understand how the timing of food intake influences these daily metabolic rhythms. What we found points to a mitochondrial enzyme, ACSF3, as a potential link between feeding time and the temporal organization of liver metabolism.