Vitamin A, or retinol, a fat-soluble vitamin, serves a variety of important health functions, including producing pigments in the retina, the light-catching nerve layer at the back of the eyes. The vitamin also supports respiratory health, immune function and prevention and treatment of some forms of cancer, including leukemia.
All-Trans-Retinoic Acid
Your body manufactures a form of vitamin A known as all-trans-retinoic acid from vitamin A. All-trans-retinoic acid promotes proper cell growth and development, particularly during the developmental stages of embryonic growth. This vitamin A metabolite is used externally to treat skin conditions such as acne and orally in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia, an aggressive type of cancer, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Tretinoin
Scientists at the Curso de Farmácia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria Brazil, report development of an improved delivery system for the leukemia drug tretinoin in a study published in the June 2010 issue of the "Journal of Biomedical Nonotechnology." Nanocapsules -- minute-sized particles -- of tretinoin provide radiation protection to the lungs; however, its storage life is limited and it becomes unstable after a short while. Using a differently structured nanocapsule increases the stability of tretinoin without impairing effectiveness of the drug against myeloid meukemia, according to the researchers.
Promyelocytic Leukemia
Vitamin A exerts powerful anticancer effects against a variety of cancer types, including leukemia, according to Robert Dillman of the Hoag Cancer Center, Newport California and editor of the book "Principles of Cancer Biotherapy." The vitamin A drug all-trans-retinoic acid is capable of inducing cancer cells, which are not fully mature cells, to transform into mature cells, resulting in complete disease remission in acute promyelocytic leukemia. All-trans-retinoic acid is a first-choice drug for the treatment of this condition.
Combination Therapy
All-trans-retinoic acid, along with chemotherapy, has been used to treat leukemia with good results for the past two decades, according to researchers at the Hematology Department, University Hospital La Fe, Spain. The combination therapy produces remission in more than 90 percent of cases and cure rates of more than 80 percent. Patients with high risk of relapse do well with all-trans-retinoic acid together with a strong chemotherapy drug, while those with lower risk of relapse can be treated with all-trans-retinoic acid along with a less-intensive chemotherapy agent. The study appeared in the February 2011 issue of the "Journal of Clinical Oncology."
References
- "Journal of Clinical Oncology"; Modern Approaches to Treating Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia; M. Sanz, et al.; February 2011
- "Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology"; Lipid-core Nanocapsules as a Nanomedicine for Parenteral Administration of Tretinoin: Development and in Vitro Antitumor Activity on Human Myeloid Leukaemia Cells; A. Ourique, et al.; June 2010
- "Principles of Cancer Biotherapy"; Robert O. Dillman; 2009
- University of Maryland Medical Center: ATRA
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