Penn State researchers may be one step closer to finding a cure for leukemia.

Researchers have discovered a compound, known as delta-12-protaglandin J3, or D12-PGJ3, which appears to target leukemia stem cells. The compound, produced from fish oil, targeted and killed the stem cells of chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML, in mice, associate professor of immunology and molecular toxicology Sandeep Prabhu said.

Prabhu, who co-directed the research alongside associate professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences Robert Paulson, said the research has been so successful because the compound specifically activates a gene, known as p53, in the leukemia stem cells that cause the cell’s own death.

The pair began to get their research ideas together about two years ago. The collaboration for the research began at an informal weekly lunch where faculty “bounce ideas off of each other,” Prabhu said.

Prabhu and Paulson started talking to figure out if they could

accomplish such a feat as discovering a cure for leukemia.

“I was presenting data on fatty acids and [Paulson] and I talked about how we could do this,” Prabhu said. “We have combined our interests and tried to explain how we can selectively target these leukemia stem cells.”

The research is significant because leukemia is a cancer of bone marrow and blood that involve the uncontrolled production of white blood cells. Killing the stem cells in leukemia is crucial because stem cells can divide and create more cancer cells.

Other leukemia treatments that are currently on the market are unable to kill stem cells, Paulson said. He added other treatments also must be administered continuously or the drug will relapse.

The research has come a long way from discussions at weekly lunches,Prabhu said, with all of the mice in the trials being completely cured of the disease.

“We have some mice that have been living for about eight months, and they show no sign of the disease,” Prabhu said. “The blood work is done continuously, and it’s safe to say that we have cured CML in mice.”

The researchers have already applied for a patent regarding their findings, which have been released in a recent issue of Blood, a magazine published by the American Society of Hematology.

Although the discovery is an important step forward in the ongoing fight against cancer, researchers still have much ground to cover.

Researchers are currently waiting for funding that would allow collaboration with the Hershey Cancer Institution.

Prabhu said he is hopeful, though, having already received calls from numerous people with CML who have offered to participate in human clinical trials.

But despite signs of a promising future, Prabhu said that they must move forward with caution.

“I feel like we have something huge, but mice and humans are different, and we have to be very careful,” Prabhu said. “It has some potential, but we’re just being cautiously optimistic. The results we have seen are definitely very encouraging.”

THON Local Print Media Captain Victoria Maseda said that she’s excited to be a part of an institution that works to fight cancer in more ways than one.

“It’s something that’s really exciting for the THON community,” Maseda (sophomore-public relations) said. “We focus on finding cures so we can help the kids.”