Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a malignant disease that often features nonrandom numerical or structural chromosome aberrations that can be detected microscopically. The application of contemporary genome-wide molecular analyses is revealing additional genetic alterations that are not detectable cytogenetically. This article describes the cytogenetic methodology and summarizes major cytogenetic findings and their clinical relevance in ALL. The article provides a review of modern molecular techniques and their application in the research on the genetics and epigenetics of ALL.
aDivision of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Comprehensive Cancer Center, James Cancer Hospital, The Ohio State University, Room 1248B, 300 West Tenth Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1228, USA
bGenetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, 8901 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20889-5105, USA
cDepartment of Pediatrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
dGenetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Navy 8, Rm 5101, 8901 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20889-5105, USA
Corresponding author.
K Mrózek and DP Harper contributed equally to this work. The authors have no conflicting financial interests to disclose. This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, NCI, and NCI grants CA101140 and CA16058, and The Coleman Leukemia Research Foundation.
ABSTRACT