Defining leukemia stem cells in MLL-translocated leukemias: implications for novel therapeutic strategies

Hematological malignancies and probably many other tumors are dependent on highly proliferating and self-renewing cancer stem cells. An important question in the development of novel, less toxic antileukemic strategies specifically targeting leukemia stem cells is how closely leukemia stem cells are related to normal hematopoietic stem cells. It has been recently demonstrated that leukemia stem cells can be derived from different stages in normal hematopoiesis and have unique phenotypic and genetic features. Introduction of Mixed-lineage leukemia ( MLL)-fusion oncoproteins, frequently found in infant leukemias and therapy-related leukemias, into differentiated hematopoietic progenitor cells results in the generation of leukemias with a high frequency of leukemia stem cells. The progenitor-derived leukemia stem cells ectopically express a limited stem cell program while maintaining the global identity of differentiated myeloid cells. Development of therapeutic strategies that specifically target the leukemia stem cell program while sparing normal hematopoietic stem cells may represent a novel therapeutic approach in human leukemias with high efficacy yet less side effects.