Unraveling Glucocorticoid Resistance In MLLrearranged Infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract

In the Netherlands, approximately 650 children aged between 0 and 18 years are diagnosed with cancer every year, including ~120 patients suffering from leukemia. Leukemia (Greek for leukos - white, and haima for blood) is a type of cancer characterized by an abnormal increase of immature (non-functional) white blood cells in the bone marrow. As a result, the production of all healthy, functional blood cells is impaired, leading to anemia (loss of functional red blood cells), infections (loss of functional white blood cells) and (internal) bleeding (loss of functional platelets), and eventually to leukemic infiltration of other tissues such as liver, spleen, skin and in some instances even in the central nervous system. Depending on the rate of disease progression, leukemia is classified into “acute” (rapidly developing) or “chronic” (slowly developing). Acute leukemias are usually characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of highly immature (leukemic) white blood cells, whereas chronic leukemias more often involve the malignant transformation of more differentiated white blood cells. Leukemia can further be classified into lymphoid (B-cell or T-cell leukemias) or non-lymphoid (myeloid) types of leukemia, depending on the type of white blood cell that was subjected to leukemic transformation.