Chronic myeloid leukemia （CML） is a clonal myeloprolif- erative disorder characterized by a chromosome translocation that generates the Bcr-Abl oncogene en- coding a constitutive kinase activity. Despite remarkable success in controlling CML at chronic phase by Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitors （TKIs）, a significant proportion of CML patients treated with TKIs develop drug resis- tance due to the inability of TKIs to kill leukemia stem cells （LSCs） that are responsible for initiation, drug re- sistance, and relapse of CML. Therefore, there is an ur- gent need for more potent and safer therapies against leukemia stem cells for curing CML. A number of LSC- associated targets and corresponding signaling path- ways, including CaMKII-y, a critical molecular switch for co-activating mu｜tipte LSC-associated signaling path- ways, have been identified over the past decades and various small inhibitors targeting LSC are also under development. Increasing evidence shows that leukemia stem cells are the root of CML and targeting LSC may offer a curable treatment option for CML patients. This review summarizes the molecular biology of LSC and its- associated targets, and the potential clinical application in chronic myeloid leukemia.
