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Retinoic acid signaling in cancer: The parable of acute promyelocytic leukemia
Author(s) -
Ablain Julien,
Thé Hugues
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.29081
Subject(s) - acute promyelocytic leukemia , retinoic acid , cancer research , leukemia , retinoic acid receptor alpha , chromosomal translocation , retinoic acid receptor , cancer , promyelocytic leukemia protein , biology , retinoic acid inducible orphan g protein coupled receptor , disease , medicine , bioinformatics , immunology , genetics , gene
Inevitably fatal some 40 years, acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) can now be cured in more than 95% of cases. This clinical success story is tightly linked to tremendous progress in our understanding of retinoic acid (RA) signaling. The discovery of retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARA) was followed by the cloning of the chromosomal translocations driving APL, all of which involve RARA . Since then, new findings on the biology of nuclear receptors have progressively enlightened the basis for the clinical efficacy of RA in APL. Reciprocally, the disease offered a range of angles to approach the cellular and molecular mechanisms of RA action. This virtuous circle contributed to make APL one of the best‐understood cancers from both clinical and biological standpoints. Yet, some important questions remain unanswered including how lessons learnt from RA‐triggered APL cure can help design new therapies for other malignancies.