Anthony G. Letai, MD, PhD

Detecting blocks in Apoptosis in Leukemia Stem Cells

Cancer biologists are beginning to appreciate that at least in some cancers, including acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), there are certain special cells, called “cancer stem cells”. These cancer stem cells can repopulate the entire cancer, and cure will likely require the eradication of these cells. Dr. Letai will study whether these AML cancer stem cells are somehow conditioned to die less readily than the rest of the AML cells, and whether this is a possible explanation for the fact that many people with AML have great initial responses to chemotherapy, but experience a relapse later on.