In order to better treat patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), researchers need to understand the pathological processes and distinguish between different subgroups of the disease. With the help of proteome and genetic analysis, researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, together with cooperation partners from the Frankfurt University Hospital, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) as well as German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) have discovered a new subtype. This subtype shows increased amounts of mitochondrial proteins as well as an altered mitochondrial metabolism. In laboratory tests, these so-called Mito-AML cells can be combated more effectively with inhibitors against mitochondrial respiration than with conventional chemotherapeutic agents.