Development of new therapeutic treatments targeting cancer stem cells.

Acute myeloid leukemia is characterized by the accumulation of transformed immature myeloid cell in bone marrow. The course of the disease is marked by poor prognosis, frequent relapse, and high disease-related mortality.

In spite of improvements in its therapy, above 60% of AML patients will eventually succumb to the disease, a fact stressing the need for new therapeutic approaches for remission induction and prevention of relapse.

The difficulty in treating AML is thought to arise from a chemoresistant subpopulation of leukemia stem cells (LSCs) that are capable of maintaining and reinitiating the disease.

Increasing evidences suggest that classic neurotransmitter receptors such as dopamine receptors (DRs) and serotonin receptors (HTRs) are involved in cancer genesis and maintenance. Indeed, DRs and HTRs are expressed on the surface of LSCs.

By killing differentially LSCs while sparing healthy hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), DR/HTR antagonists could constitute a new therapeutic target for AML, especially for eradication of LSCs.