Seminars in Oncology
Volume 35, Issue 4 , Pages 378-387, August 2008

Epigenetics in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

  • Christoph Plass

      Affiliations

    • German Cancer Research Center, Division of Toxicology and Cancer Risk Factors, Heidelberg, Germany.
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to Christoph Plass, PhD, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Division C010, Toxicology and Cancer Risk Factors, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
    • ,
  • Christopher Oakes

      Affiliations

    • German Cancer Research Center, Division of Toxicology and Cancer Risk Factors, Heidelberg, Germany.
    • ,
  • William Blum

      Affiliations

    • Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, The Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
    • ,
  • Guido Marcucci

      Affiliations

    • Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, The Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a disease characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of clonal neoplastic hematopoietic precursor cells. This leads to the disruption of normal hematopoiesis and bone marrow failure. Major breakthroughs in the past have contributed to our understanding of the genetic failures and the changed biology in AML cells that underlie the initiation and progression of the disease. It is now recognized that not only genetic but also epigenetic alterations are similarly important in this process. Since these alterations do not change the DNA sequences and are pharmacologically reversible, they have been regarded as optimal targets for what is now known as epigenetic therapy. In this review, we will discuss our current understanding of normal epigenetic processes, outline our knowledge of epigenetic alterations in AML, and discuss how this information is being used to improve current therapy of this disease.

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 This work was supported by grants from the Leukemia Lymphoma Society (C.P.) and in part by NCI P30CA16058 (C.P.), CA93548 (C.P.) CA101956 (C.P.), CA102031 (G.M.). C.P. is a Leukemia Lymphoma Society Scholar.

PII: S0093-7754(08)00118-8

doi:10.1053/j.seminoncol.2008.04.008

Seminars in Oncology
Volume 35, Issue 4 , Pages 378-387, August 2008

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