Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an extremely heterogeneous and deadly hematological cancer. Cytogenetic abnormalities and genetic mutations, though well recognized and highly prognostic, do not fully capture the degree of heterogeneities manifested in AML clinically. Additionally, current treatment of AML still largely depends on chemotherapy and allogeneic stem cell transplantation, with few options for personalized and molecularly targeted therapies. Proteomics holds promise for unraveling biological heterogeneities in AML beyond the scope of cytogenetics and genomics. In recent years, proteomics has emerged as an important tool for discovering new diagnostic biomarkers, enabling more prognostic patient classifications, and identifying novel therapeutic targets. In this chapter, we review recent advances in proteomic studies of AML, including an overview of AML pathology, popular proteomic techniques, various applications of proteomics in AML from biomarker discovery to target identification, challenges and future directions in this field.
Part of the book: Myeloid Leukemia