Review Article
Yosuke Minami, Tomoki Naoe
Abstract
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.