Surface and Interacellular Targets of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Therapy Detectable at Leukemic Stem Cell level

For over 50 years investigators have considered a malignant stem cell as the potential origin of and a key therapeutic target for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and other forms of cancer. Leukaemic stem cells (LSCs) have been identified in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Similar to haemopoietic stem cells, these LSCs are able to self-renew, differentiate, and proliferate extensively. Recent studies suggest that LSCs are critical for the initiation and maintenance of leukaemia. Exciting new insights into the fundamental underpinnings of LSCs are now being made in an era in which drug development pipelines offer the potential to specifically target pathways of significance. This mini review will describe the possible targets expressed on the surface of AML, the intracellular targets and the novel molecular and flow cytometry methodologies being used to particularly ablate the LSC population.