doi:10.4061/2011/428960 Review Article Wnt/ß-Catenin: A New Therapeutic Approach to Acute Myeloid Leukemia

permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Recent studies have shown genetic and epigenetic aberrations resulting in aberrant activation of the Wingless-Int (Wnt) pathway, thus influencing the initiation and progression of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Of major importance, these findings may lead to novel treatment strategies exploiting targeted modulation of Wnt signaling. This paper comprises the latest status of knowledge concerning the role of Wnt pathway alteration in AML and outlines future lines of research and their clinical perspectives. 1. Acute Leukemia Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a hematologic malignancy of themyeloid line of white blood cells in the bonemarrow, is themost common leukemia of the adult [1, 2]. Despite major progress in the treatment of AML during the last couple of years, the majority of patients still cannot be cured. Different genetic causes result in variable clinical courses of AMLs and different responses to standard chemotherapy including stem cell transplant [1, 3, 4]. Due to high mortality rates and high relapse rates eve