Mechanisms of differentiation therapy response and relapse in acute myeloid leukaemia

Differentiation therapy is a highly successful therapy in AML that transforms cancer cells into mature blood cells. Despite its success, some AML patients treated with this therapy still succumb to disease relapse. From my PhD, we found that when cancer cells are transformed into mature blood cells, they turn into multiple different blood cell types. Most cancer cells turn into short living neutrophils, however some cancer cells transform into eosinophil-like cells. These cells are more difficult to clear, persist longer, and are therefore likely to seed relapse. Consequently, preventing AML cells from transforming into eosinophils resulted in a significant reduction in relapse following differentiation therapy.