[Cytogenetic abnormalities and gene mutations in myeloid leukemia]

Myeloid leukemia is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disease. Cytogenetic studies have revealed specific chromosomal abnormalities, such as translocations, and inversions. Fusion proteins derived from these abnormalities were identified in various subtypes of leukemia. Because most of these fusion proteins were not sufficient to induce leukemia by themselves in mouse models, additional oncogenic events have been thought to be necessary for leukemogenesis. Recently, a hypothesis called "two-hit model" for leukemia has been proposed. Two broad classes of mutations that proliferative or survival advantage of hematopoietic progenitors and impaired differentiation are required for inducing leukemia. In this article, we summarize some typical chromosomal abnormalities or gene mutations associated with myeloid leukemia on the basis of this hypothesis.