Chromosome translocations in leukaemia
The cumulative risk of any child developing leukaemia before the age of 15 is around 1 in 2,000. But this statistic disguises the biological heterogeneity of the disease and the different age spectrums affected by each subtype. Chromosome translocations are often early or initiating events in leukaemia onset, occurring prenatally in most cases of childhood leukaemia. Such genetic changes are usually not sufficient to cause leukaemia, but how, when and where do translocations arise? And can these insights aid our understanding of the natural history, pathogenesis and causes of leukaemia? In a review in this month's Nature Reviews Cancer, Mel Greaves and Joe Wiemels address these key questions.

review
Origins of chromosome translocations in childhood leukaemia
M. F. GREAVES AND J. WIEMELS
Nature Reviews Cancer 3, 639; September 2003
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