Deregulation of cell cycle control in hematologic malignancies

Cell cycle progression is governed by a complex network of positive and negative regulatory molecules. Mutations in cell cycle regulatory proteins occur frequently in tumor cells and defective cell cycle control is a common and perhaps universal feature of malignant transformation. This review outlines current models of normal cell cycle progression, focusing on the G1 phase of the cell cycle, and describes specific mutations that have been discovered in leukemias and lymphomas.