Leukemia stem/progenitor cells and target therapy for leukemia-- review / 中国实验血液学杂志

ABSTRACT

Human leukemias are considered as clonal malignancies initiated at stage as early as hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. The drug resistance and relapse are two major causes for treatment failure of leukemia. Recently, the discovery of leukemia stem/progenitor cells (LSPC) and subsequent research have provided a cue to elucidate the pathogenesis of leukemia and to explore the strategies of targeted therapy against LSPC. This review summarizes the molecular characteristics of LSPC and some research advances of therapy targeting LSPC including therapy targeting to surface molecules of LSPC, interference of interaction between LSPC and bone marrow microenvironment, regulation mechanisms of some specific molecular and so on.