Identification and separation of normal hematopoietic stem cells and leukemia stem cells from patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Mounting evidences indicate that leukemic cells in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are derived from leukemia stem cells (LSC). In analogy to normal hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), LSC remain mostly dormant and are hence resistant to conventional chemotherapy. Residual, physiological HSC exist alongside with LSC, with heterogeneous dominance of LSC over HSC in individual patients.