Unlocking the potential of anti-CD33 therapy in adult and childhood acute myeloid leukaemia

Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) develops when there is a block in differentiation and uncontrolled proliferation of myeloid precursors, resulting in bone marrow failure. AML is a heterogeneous disease clinically, morphologically, and genetically, and biological differences between adult and childhood AML have been identified. AML comprises 15-20% of all children less than fifteen years diagnosed with acute leukaemia. Relapse occurs in up to 40% of children with AML and is the commonest cause of death.1,2 Relapse arises from leukaemic stem cells (LSCs) that persist after conventional chemotherapy. The treatment of AML is challenging and new strategies to target LSCs are required. The cell surface marker CD33 has been identified as a therapeutic target, and novel anti-CD33 immunotherapies are promising new agents in the treatment of AML. This review will summarise recent developments emphasising the genetic differences in adult and childhood AML, while highlighting the rationale for CD33 as a target for therapy, in all age groups

Multiplex in vitro detection using SERS

The ability to detect multiple disease-related targets from a single biological sample in a quick and reliable manner is of high importance in diagnosing and monitoring disease. The technique known as surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been developed for the simultaneous detection of multiple targets present in biological samples. Advances in the SERS method have allowed for the sensitive and specific detection of biologically relevant targets, such as DNA and proteins, which could be useful for the detection and control of disease. This review focuses on the strengths of SERS for the detection of target molecules from complex mixtures and the clinical relevance of recent work combining SERS with multiplexed detection of biological targets