Interestingly, our previous study found that fludarabine (Flu) may restore the Ara-C sensitivity in AML blasts (Additional file 1a,b) and increase the cytoxicity of Ara-C (Additional file 1a), partially by increasing the mRNA expression of DCK, SLC29A1, and decreasing mRNA expression of CDA, RRM1 and RRM2 (Additional file 1c). Here, SLC29A1 is linked to acute myeloid leukemia.