THE ROLE OF ONCOGENES IN HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES

Oncogenes are activated forms of cellular genes involved in normal cel l growth and development. Some oncogenes play a role in human malignan cies. In hematologic malignancies, researchers have identified many tr anscription factors as oncogenes based on one of the following criteri a: their association with transforming retroviruses in animals, their translocation into either the immunoglobulin or T-cell receptor loci, or the production of fusion proteins resulting from chromosomal transl ocations. The molecular characterization of oncogenes in hematologic m alignancies has led to the discovery of new methods for diagnosis and detection of minimal residual disease. In the future, researchers prob ably will develop novel treatment strategies to interfere with the fun ction of these oncogenes.