The synthetic glucocorticoids prednisolone and dexamethasone regulate the same genes in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells [Set 2]

Background: Glucocorticoids (GCs) cause apoptosis in malignant cells of lymphoid lineage by transcriptionally regulating a plethora of genes. As a result, GCs are included in almost all treatment protocols for lymphoid malignancies, particularly childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (chALL). The most commonly used synthetic GCs in the clinical setting are prednisolone and dexamethasone. While the latter has a higher activity and more effectively reduces the tumor load in patients, it is also accompanied by more serious adverse effects than the former. Whether this difference might be explained by regulation of different genes by the two GCs has never been addressed.

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Bindreither D, Ecker S, Gschirr B, Kofler A, Kofler R, Rainer J