CLINICAL-APPLICATIONS OF GENETIC REARRANGEMENTS IN CANCER

Genetic aberrations in cancer cells can be of immediate relevance to t he patient. They enable definitive diagnoses to be reached and sub-cla ssification of certain tumour types into good or bad prognostic groups , information which can influence therapy. These aberrations can also be used as tumour markers for monitoring the response to therapy. Majo r technological advances in the last few years have facilitated these applications in the routine clinical setting and encouraged searches f or new genetic markers. As the genes directly affected are identified and their roles in tumorigenesis elucidated, they are likely to provid e novel targets for therapeutic intervention.