Investigating the response of paediatric leukaemia-propagating cells to BCL-2 inhibitors.

Relapse of paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) may occur due to persistence of resistant cells with leukaemia-propagating ability (LPC). In leukaemia, the balance of B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) family proteins is disrupted, promoting survival of malignant cells and possibly LPC. A direct comparison of BCL-2 inhibitors, navitoclax and venetoclax, was undertaken on LPC subpopulations from B-cell precursor (BCP) and T-cell ALL (T-ALL) cases in vitro and in vivo.