Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) is a disease arising in stem cells expressing the BCR-ABL oncogenic tyrosine kinase that transforms one Hematopoietic stem/progenitor Cell into a Leukemic Stem Cell (LSC) at the origin of differentiated and proliferating leukemic cells in the bone marrow (BM). CML-LSCs are recognized as being responsible for resistances and relapses that occur despite the advent of BCR-ABL-targeting therapies with Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs). LSCs share a lot of functional properties with Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) although some phenotypical and functional differences have been described during the last two decades. Subverted mechanisms affecting epigenetic processes, apoptosis, autophagy and more recently metabolism and immunology in the bone marrow microenvironment (BMM) have been reported. The aim of this review is to bring together the modifications and molecular mechanisms that are known to account for TKI resistance in primary CML-LSCs and to focus on the potential solutions that can circumvent these resistances, in particular those that have been, or will be tested in clinical trials.
Keywords: apoptosis; autophagy; chronic myeloid leukemia; clinical trials; epigenetic; leukemic stem cells; metabolism; microenvironment; resistance; tyrosine kinase inhibitors.