Redirecting traffic using the XPO1 police

In this issue of Blood, Walker et al investigate the preclinical potential of KPT-330, an exportin-1 (XPO1, also known as chromosome maintenance protein 1 [CRM1]) inhibitor, against both accelerated phase (AP) and blast crisis chronic myeloid leukemia (CML-BC) and against Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph1) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), all of which are diseases of significant unmet clinical need.1 The authors provide encouraging data from both a leukemic mouse model and a single CML-AP patient, corroborating mechanistic studies suggesting that KPT-330 efficacy relies on targeting abundantly expressed XPO1, followed by the reactivation of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A).