Combination Therapies with Kinase Inhibitors for Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment

Targeting kinase activity is considered to be an attractive therapeutic strategy to overcome acute myeloid leukemia (AML) since aberrant activation of the kinase pathway plays a pivotal role in leukemogenesis through abnormal cell proliferation and differentiation block. Although clinical trials for kinase modulators as single agents remain scarce, combination therapies are an area of therapeutic interest. In this review, the author summarizes attractive kinase pathways for therapeutic targets and the combination strategies for these pathways. Specifically, the review focuses on combination therapies targeting the FLT3 pathways, as well as PI3K/AKT/mTOR, CDK and CHK1 pathways. From a literature review, combination therapies with the kinase inhibitors appear more promising than monotherapies with individual agents. Therefore, the development of efficient combination therapies with kinase inhibitors may result in effective therapeutic strategies for AML.