Molecular diagnostics of malignant disorders

Expansion of our understanding of the molecular basis of cancer has enabled us to apply molecular techniques to categorize malignancies into more uniform, informative groups. In this review we describe the basic molecular techniques used for this purpose, including Southern blotting, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and quantitative PCR, fluorescence in situ hybridization, DNA microarrays, and proteomics. The main applications of these techniques in the modern management of acute leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, lymphomas, and breast cancer are summarized.