Chronic myelogenous leukemia on target

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is commonly treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) that inhibit the pro‐leukemic activity of the BCR‐ABL1 oncoprotein. Despite the therapeutic progress mediated by TKI use, off‐target effects, treatment‐induced drug resistance, and the limited effect of these drugs on CML stem cells (SCs) are major drawbacks frequently resulting in insufficient or unsustainable treatment. Therefore, intense research efforts have focused on development of improved TKIs and alternative treatment strategies to eradicate CML SCs. Alongside efforts to design superior protein inhibitors, the need to overcome the poor therapeutic effect of TKIs on CML SCs has led to a renaissance of antisense strategies, as they are reported as effective in more primitive cell types. Despite the greater drug design flexibility offered by antisense sequence variability and remarkable chemical improvements, antisense drugs exhibit unacceptable levels of off‐target effects, precluding them from large‐scale clinical testing. Recent advances in antisense drug design have led to a pioneering mRNA recognition concept that may offer a helping hand in eliminating off‐target effects, and has potential to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice.