Open AccessArsenic but not all-trans retinoic acid overcomes the aberrant stem cell capacity of PML/RAR -positive leukemic stem cells
Author(s) -
Xiao Zheng,
Anita Seshire,
Brigitte Rüster,
Gesine Bug,
Tim Beißert,
Elena Puccetti,
Dieter Hoelzer,
Reinhard Henschler,
Martin Ruthardt
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
haematologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1592-8721
pISSN - 0390-6078
DOI - 10.3324/haematol.10541
Subject(s) - acute promyelocytic leukemia , stem cell , cancer research , retinoic acid , leukemia , myeloid leukemia , promyelocytic leukemia protein , biology , immunology , cell culture , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics
Stem cells play an important role in the pathogenesis and maintenance of most malignant tumors. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a stem cell disease. The inefficient targeting of the leukemic stem cells (LSC) is considered responsible for relapse after the induction of complete hematologic remission (CR) in AML. Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a subtype of AML characterized by the t(15;17) translocation and expression of the PML/RARalpha fusion protein. Treatment of APL with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) induces CR, but not molecular remission (CMR), because the fusion transcript remains detectable, followed by relapse within a few months. Arsenic induces high rates of CR and CMR followed by a long relapse-free survival (RFS). Here we compared the effects of ATRA and arsenic on PML/RARalpha-positive stem cell compartments.