PBOX-15 Drug Has Potential To Kill Leukemia Cells

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Scientists believe that a new drug, PBOX-15, will be highly effective in killing formerly resistant cancer cells in patients who have been non-responsive to previous treatments. Adult patients who have displayed a resistance to former treatments and therapies may have another option with thie PBOX-15 drug.

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin in partnership with the University of Sienna have made the discovery. Belfast Hospital and St. James's Hospital are also involved in the testing stages of the drug. 

PBOX-15 acts by breaking down the skeleton of leukemia cells, essentially attacking their central structure. The drug has already been tested and results of this nature have been successful.

The new cancer drug has already exemplified success in treating Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, a resistant and common form of blood cancer. PBOX-15 seems to be highly successful in terms of killing CLL cells that have been resistant to other medications.

This new drug is still in the testing stages and Trinity College Dublin Professor Mark Lawler projects a three to five year term of testing before the drug will be widely available as a cancer treatment. It instills hope, however, that as new research is carried out there will be more treatments and therapies for cancer patients in the near future.