Identification of similarities and differences between myeloid and lymphoid acute leukemias using a gene-gene interaction network

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer that affects the myeloid line of blood cells. Acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) is a type of leukemia that targets the lymphoid line of blood cells. As the comparison of these two types facilitates in the understanding of their molecular pathology, exploring the similarities and differences in the mechanisms of them is worthwhile. We identified 28 novel AML- and ALL-related genes shared in both of them using a short path algorithm. By integrating gene ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway annotations, we revealed the underlying molecular features of AML and ALL. We finally obtained 160 optimal GO terms that could satisfactorily distinguish two types. Further analysis revealed that the results agree well with previous knowledge. Determining the common and different features between AML and ALL facilitates the classification of leukemia and is thus clinically relevant for exploring the molecular markers.