Cyclin Dl in acute ly phobta•stic t •leukemia

Abstract

The acute leukemias are a heterogeneous group of malignancies with varying clinical, morphologic, immunologic and molecular characteristics. They affect uncommitted or partially committed hematopoietic stem cells.

Acute leukemias are broadly classified into myeloid and lymphoid types based on the cell of origin. •

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is diagnosed in approximately 100,000 people worldwide per year and 70% of the patients are children.

Currently patients are stratified at diagnosis into prognostic groups so that therapy can be tailored to the risk of disease recurrence.

Patients with the disease characterized by favorable clinical and laboratory features respond satisfactorily to standard therapy, whereas those with the disease characterized by features protending recurrence require more extensive therapy.