Abstract
Recent years have witnessed major advances in the understanding of molecular signaling events that govern cellular proliferation, survival, and differentiation, ultimately impacting upon the development and propagation of neoplasia. As such, dissection of these signal transduction pathways will identify important signaling molecules that can be targeted by new therapeutic compounds (Ito and May 1996; McCubrey et al. 2000; Reuter et al. 2000). One such class of agents, namely farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs), may serve to inhibit relevant intracellular signaling targets, and ultimately neoplastic progression. In this review we will discuss some of the important signal transduction pathways as they relate to leukemia and hematopoiesis, and will highlight the recent experience with FTIs in the setting of acute leukemias and other cancers.