New findings: Acute myeloid leukaemia and chemotherapy cause long-term damage to the nervous system in the bone marrow

Researchers led by Tatyana Grinenko and Martin Bornhäuser from TU Dresden have developed a new method to visualise the 3D architecture of human bone marrow. They investigated changes in the bone marrow caused by acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a fatal form of blood cancer, and discovered damage to the sympathetic nerve fibres in AML patients, which is exacerbated by chemotherapy. As the sympathetic nervous system controls blood formation, damage to it can impair the production of blood cells. A nerve-protective treatment could open up a new avenue of therapy. The project received €125,000 in funding from the Wilhelm Sander Foundation.