Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have sought great interest in recent years especially in the field of cancer research with promising results in clinical trials. One of the receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), AXL, has be-come a novel target for leukemia therapy. AXL belongs to TAM family of RTKs, which includes TYRO3, AXL, and MER. Growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6) ligand activates AXL-RTK, followed by activation of different signaling cascades that lead to cell survival, proliferation, migration and invasion through activation of Wnt/β-catenin, PI3K, MAPK, and JAK/STAT. AXL-RTK is expressed in a relatively low levels through-out an adult body and was first identified in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, anomalous AXL/Gas6 has been associated with tumour development, progression and reduced survival rate in number of malignancies, including breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer, hippocampus neuron.
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