Chromosome Translocations in Human B-Cell Neoplasms

Abstract

It is generally accepted that tumors arise through the accumulation of several genetic changes affecting the control of cell growth. To date, the best characterized of these changes are the chromosome abnormalities, namely chromosome translocations and inversions, which are often associated with human hematopoietic tumors. It has been shown that the c-myc proto-oncogene is directly involved in the chromosome translocations t(8;14), t(2;8) and t(8;22) in Burkitt's lymphoma and that the c-abl proto-oncogene is activated through its fusion to the bcr gene as the result of the t(9;22) chromosome translocation in chronic myelogenous leukemia cells. The involvement of the immunoglobulin genes in chromosome translocations is very common in B-cell tumors, leading us to study the structure and function of the chromosome translocations in B-cell tumors. In this article, I describe the chromosome translocations associated with human B-cell tumors, focusing on how they occur, how they lead to cell transformation, and how new oncogenes involved in B-cell tumor development can be identified.