European journal of haematology
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Chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) cells show expression of BCL-X(L), an anti-apoptotic oncogene. This expression is induced by BCR-ABL protein kinase through activation of the signal transducer and activator of transcription-5 protein (STAT5). To date, however, the contribution of BCL-X(L) and STAT5 to the transforming phenotype in CML is still unclear. ⋯ Moreover, BCL-X(L) expression levels were found to be decreased in chronic phase, contrary to a marked increase in blast crisis. We found no difference in expression of BCL-X(L) and phosphorylated STAT5 when related with b3a2 and b2a2 BCR-ABL rearrangements. These results suggest that STAT5 activity and BCL-X(L) overexpression may reflect a stage of differentiation among CML phases, and this could contribute to BCR-ABL-dependent transformation.