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Successful induction therapy with decitabine in refractory childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Leukemia volume 23, pages 1342–1343 (2009)Cite this article

The outcome for refractory childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) is usually fatal, and novel therapeutic agents are needed to change this dismal prognosis. Identification of the genes and biological pathways responsible for chemoresistance is therefore crucial for the design of novel therapeutic approaches.1

DNA methylation is a common epigenetic modification that induces changes in gene expression and hypermethylation, and silencing of key regulatory genes, such as tumour suppressor genes, has been implicated in the biology of ALL and is an independent factor of poor prognosis. DNA methyltransferase inhibitors can reverse these epigenetic mutations.2

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hematology Department, Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla-IFIMAV, Santander, Spain. E-mail: lucrecia@humv.es,

    L Yánez, A Bermúdez, C Richard, E Bureo & A Iriondo

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  1. L Yánez
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  2. A Bermúdez
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  3. C Richard
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  4. E Bureo
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Yánez, L., Bermúdez, A., Richard, C. et al. Successful induction therapy with decitabine in refractory childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukemia 23, 1342–1343 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2009.58

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