title: Biology of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: Giant strides have been made in the management of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) over previous decades. Extensive collaborative efforts internationally have played a vital role in the remarkable progress made in not only improving therapeutic outcomes but also deciphering the complex biology of childhood ALL. This review summarizes various insights gained from biological studies of childhood ALL, with a focus on recent studies, and also discusses genomic lesions and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms associated with leukemic transformation. The importance of studying the biology of the host so as to understand additional heterogeneity in treatment response and toxicities is highlighted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA. Electronic address: deepa.bhojwani@stjude.org.
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bhojwani
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, 920 Madison Avenue, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
authors.forename: Jun J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.
authors.forename: Ching-Hon
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Pui
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia; Chromosomal alterations; Genomics; Host germline polymorphisms