Abnormal bone marrow microenvironment: the "harbor" of acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells

Zehui Chen; Yaxin Zheng; Yaling Yang; Junnan Kang; M James You; Chen Tian

doi:10.1097/BS9.0000000000000071

Abnormal bone marrow microenvironment: the "harbor" of acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells

Blood Sci. 2021 Apr 28;3(2):29-34. doi: 10.1097/BS9.0000000000000071. eCollection 2021 Apr.

Authors

Zehui Chen^{1

2}, Yaxin Zheng¹, Yaling Yang², Junnan Kang¹, M James You², Chen Tian¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Hematology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin, China.
² Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.

Abstract

Bone marrow (BM) microenvironment regulates and supports the production of blood cells which are necessary to maintain homeostasis. In analogy to normal hematopoiesis, leukemogenesis is originated from leukemic stem cells (LSCs) which gives rise to more differentiated malignant cells. Leukemia cells occupy BM niches and reconstruct them to support leukemogenesis. The abnormal BM niches are the main sanctuary of LSCs where they can evade chemotherapy-induced death and acquire drug resistance. In this review, we focus on the protective effects of BM niche cells on acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells.

Keywords: acute lymphoblastic leukemia; bone marrow microenvironment; osteoblastic niche; vascular niche.

Publication types

Review