Paediatric patients with acute leukaemia and KMT2A (MLL) rearrangement show a distinctive expression pattern of histone deacetylases.

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) had emerged as promising drugs in leukaemia, but their toxicity due to lack of specificity limited their use. Therefore, there is a need to elucidate the role of HDACs in specific settings. The study of HDAC expression in childhood leukaemia could help to choose more specific HDACi for selected candidates in a personalized approach.

FLT3 is implicated in cytarabine transport by human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 in pediatric acute leukemia.

FLT3 abnormalities are negative prognostic markers in acute leukemia. Infant leukemias are a subgroup with frequent MLL (KMT2A) rearrangements, FLT3 overexpression and high sensitivity to cytarabine, but dismal prognosis. Cytarabine is transported into cells by Human Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter-1 (hENT1, SLC29A1), but the mechanisms that regulate hENT1 in acute leukemia have been scarcely studied.