Avocado discovery may point to leukemia treatment
A compound in avocados may ultimately offer a route to better leukemia treatment, says a new University of Guelph study.
The compound targets an enzyme that scientists have identified for the first time as being critical to cancer cell growth, said Dr. Paul Spagnuolo, Department of Food Science.
Published recently in the journal Blood, the study focused on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which is the most devastating form of leukemia. Most cases occur in people over age 65, and fewer than 10 per cent of patients survive five years after diagnosis.
Leukemia cells have higher amounts of an enzyme called VLCAD involved in their metabolism, said Spagnuolo.