JAK of all trades: Ruxolitinib as a new therapeutic option for CML patients

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a paradigmatic tumor in oncology research. It was the first cancer in which a recurrent chromosomal abnormality, the Philadelphia chromosome arising from the reciprocal translocation between chromosomes 9 and 22, was identified and subsequently shown to be pathogenic through the production of the fusion oncogene and tyrosine kinase (TK) BCR-ABL. CML also perfectly fits the cancer stem cell model as it arises from a leukemic stem cell (LSC) which represents the reservoir of the disease and, through self-renewal and differentiation, is able to generate the tumor bulk of mature leukemic cells.
Source: Leukemia Research - Category: Hematology Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research