Anti-Tumor and Immune Enhancing Activities of Rice Bran Gramisterol on Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

Background Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the blood that most commonly affects human adults. The specific cause of AML is unclear, but it induces abnormality of white blood cells that grow rapidly and accumulate in bone marrow interfering with the production and functions of the normal blood cells. AML patients face poor prognosis and low quality of life during chemotherapy or transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells due to the progressive impairment of their immune system. The goal of this study is to find natural products that have the potential to delay growth or eliminate the abnormal leukemic cells but cause less harmful effect to the body’s immune system.