Scientists from Uppsala University have exhibited a conceptually new model for the growth and advancement of multiple myeloma, which is presently considered as an incurable disease.

Multiple myeloma is one of the most common blood cancers.

Using large cohorts of myeloma patients, the researchers have identified a profile of genes that are silenced by epigenetic mechanisms in the malignant plasma cell.

Helena Jernberg Wiklund, one of the investigators in the research said, "This silencing may lead to the uncontrolled growth of the malignant cells."

The silenced gene profile was equated to customary plasma cells that are highly specialized and for which development and life span is tightly controlled.

The silenced genes have a common denominator in being targets and controlled by the Polycomb repressor complex (PcG).

This complex has previously been implicated in self-renewal and division of normal embryonic stem cells.

In the research, the scientis discovered that PcG inhibitors could also decrease the growth of tumour cells in an animal model of myeloma.

Helena Jernberg Wiklund said, "A new strategy for treating multiple myeloma could be to develop drugs that are targeted to the PcG complex, leading to reactivation of the silenced gene profile."

The research is issued in the latest edition of the on-line journal PLoS ONE. (With Inputs from Agencies)