title: Genome-wide SNP analysis in cancer: leukemia shows the way.
abstract: The application of novel genetic/genomic technologies to the study of acute leukemia has frequently been a proving ground for such approaches in cancer. Recent development of high-resolution single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays allows detailed assessment of the genomes in cancer cells. A recent study by Mullighan et al. uses SNP arrays to assess copy number alterations in a large group of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemias and demonstrates frequent mutation of genes encoding transcription factors important for B cell development. These studies not only provide information about the multistep development of leukemia, but also demonstrate the potential for this approach in other cancers.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Yingzi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Armstrong
mesh_terms: D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000235:genetics*; D019656:Loss of Heterozygosity; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*