Homoharringtonine/Omacetaxine Mepesuccinate: The Long and Winding Road to Food and Drug Administration Approval

Homoharringtonine/omacetaxine is a unique agent with a long history of research development. It has been recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia after failure of 2 or more tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Research with this agent has spanned over 40 years, with many instructive lessons to cancer research, which are summarized in this review. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.