Journal of Molecular Biomarkers & Diagnosis

Biomarker Assay for Residual Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Stem/Progenitor Cells during Treatment with ABL-Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors

Abstract

Yosuke Minami, Tomoki Naoe

The use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) such as imatinib mesylate (IM) targeted against BCR-ABL has proven
successful in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and long-term survival has become a reality. However, several
mathematical models and ex-vivo examinations suggested that IM-therapy does not eradicate CML stem cells. We recently
reported the investigation of residual CML diseases during TKI treatment using FACS-sorting and quantitative RT-PCR of
BCR-ABL among each population; total mononuclear cells, hematopoietic stem cells, and myeloid progenitors. Moreover,
we need to develop the evaluation method of the residual CML stem cells to establish rational TKI-cessation strategies in
CML.