[Medical genomics of leukemia/lymphoma]

A variety of genomic approaches have been applied to leukemia/lymphoma to identify cancer-promoting genes or to screen for prognostic markers. Gene expression profiling with microarrays has, for instance, succeeded to calculate prognostic scores based on the expression profiles of a subset of genes in acute myeloid leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Further, narrowing down the LOH regions with microsatellite markers in the genome of myeloproliferative disorders could identify a mutated JAK2 gene encoding an activated tyrosine kinase. Similarly, a common deletion in the genome of chronic lymphoid leukemia was shown to contain miR-15a/miR-16-1 microRNA genes, loss of expression of which plays an important role in the malignant transformation. Advent of further high-throughput and high-resolution techniques (such as new generation of DNA sequencers) would greatly help to discover leukemia/lymphoma-related genes that may provide promising candidates for molecule-targeted therapies.