Apoptosis in leukemia: from molecular pathways to targeted therapies.

Knowledge about apoptosis pathways developed in the last few years is already being translated into novel targeted therapies. Two illustrative approaches to this process are the development of small molecule BCL2 inhibitors and X-linked inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (XIAP) inhibitors. This work demonstrates both the development of new agents based on molecular mechanisms and how these agents further our understanding of the biology of apoptosis.