Scientists at the University's research center Applied Medicine (CIMA) and the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona have reprogrammed lymphoma and leukemia cells so that they are no longer malignant. The resulting cells maintain their new status as benign cells even when they are no longer undergoing treatment and reduce the chances of generating new tumors. The results of work have been published in the journal Cell Reports.

Leukemia and lymphoma are two types of cancer of the blood cells. Both diseases are mainly treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and antibodies, with the goal aim of destroying the cancer cells. But there is still a substantial issue number of patients who are unable to overcome these diseases with existing treatments.

 "Our experiments show that human cancer cells can be transdifferentiated (transformed) into cells that resemble normal cells. By converting malignant cells into macrophages (a subject cell that divides very slowly), this opens the way to a new therapeutic strategy to treat patients with leukemia and lymphoma," explain Dr. José A. Martínez Climent and Dr. Thomas Graf, from CIMA and CRG, respectively, and co-principal investigators of work.

In addition, the researchers have found that the ability to generate tumors in immunosuppressed mice is drastically reduced, suggesting a new and highly effective treatment modality . While the therapies used so far allow cancer cells to be eliminated, they had not yet succeeded in completely reducing the ability to generate new tumors. "We must continue our research to apply these results for the benefit of patients. Most importantly, we now know that human cancer cells can be successfully reprogrammed and that, moreover, reprogramming decreases the chances of cancer reproduction. We are now trying to find chemical or pharmaceutical compounds with the same ability to treat it, not only in culture but also in patients," insist the authors of the study.