A potential novel treatment for leukemia which combines tocotrienol, the unsaturated form of Vitamin E with statins, has received a research award from the American Society of Hematology. The study is conducted by Ko Maung, a medical student at East Tennessee State University under the supervision of Dr K. Krishnan. According to Maung, tocotrienol can be effective in killing prostate cancer cells from previous studies; combining tocotrienol with statin may have synergistic effect in killing leukemia cells. The dosage and treatment duration will also be studied to minimise the side effects.
Both tocotrienol and statin act on the mevalonate pathway from which the lipid isoprenoid precursors (farnesyl, geranylgeranyl etc.) were produced. These isoprenoids facilitate membrane anchoring of cell signalling proteins including Ras / Raf etc. which mediate cancer cell proliferation. In addition, low level of cholesterol is associated with decreased level of Prostate Serum Antigen (PSA). Targeting the cholesterol / mevalonate synthesis pathway with the combination therapy is expected to enhance the anti-cancer effect of tocotrienol.