The Molecular Basis of Leukemia

Abstract

Genes involved in the pathogenesis of cancer are thought to act by two general mechanisms. The first involves the structural alteration of a normal gene (a proto-oncogene) to generate a novel gene (an oncogene) whose protein product acts on the host cell to induce characteristics of malignancy. This protein product is usually involved in cellular proliferation, differentiation, or survival. The second mechanism involves the loss or inactivation of genes whose proteins suppress cancer. Genes of this class are known as tumor-suppressor genes or anti-oncogenes.Alterations in members of specific gene families are consistently associated with some types of leukemia. Table 1 lists . . .