Differentiation Therapy for Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia

Until recently, chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation were the only therapeutic options in acute leukemia. The idea of restoring normal differentiation in primitive leukemic cells seemed unrealistic until the effect of all-trans-retinoic acid in acute promyelocytic leukemia was shown.In acute promyelocytic leukemia, which constitutes about 10 percent of the cases of acute myeloid leukemia, there is an accumulation of leukemic blasts carrying a t(15;17) translocation that fuses the promyelocytic leukemia gene (PML) on chromosome 15 to the retinoic acid receptor alpha gene (RARα) on chromosome 17. This chimeric gene encodes the promyelocytic leukemia–retinoic . . .