Genetic alterations in B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Considerable advances have been made in treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with an overall survival rate of 85% in children, and with a great improvement in adults. Despite this improvements and the accessibility of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, relapsed ALL remains a leading cause of childhood mortality emphasizing the need of new approaches on therapy. Understanding of the pathobiology and genetic alteration of ALL has been enhanced by developing molecular technologies including microarray analysis and genome sequencing. These studies have helped identifying mutations in key signaling pathways and revolutionized the treatment of ALL by drugs which specifically target the genetic defects of leukemia cells, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors. In this paper, we review the clinically important Genetic Alterations in ALL.