ABL1 and leukemia: In particular, leukemia-initiating cells (LIC), which are a rare subpopulation of leukemic cells characterized by leukemia initiation properties, stemness and drug resistance [16], rely on a high glycolytic rate [17], which was demonstrated to be a central mechanism in AML leukemogenesis driven by the fusion proteins BCR-ABL and MLL-AF9 oncogenes [18].