Molecular basis of human B cell neoplasia

This review describes how the methods and concepts of somatic cell and molecular genetics were used to characterize the precise breakpoints of the chromosomal translocations found in Burkitt's lymphoma cells. A proto-oncogene, the myc gene normally found on chromosome 8, is consistently involved in these translocations, thereby losing its ability to respond to normal regulatory signals during B cell differentiation. The relationship of the myc proto-oncogene to the chromosomal translocations characteristic of Burkitt's lymphoma suggests, by analogy, that chromosomal translocations characteristic of other neoplasms may also involve proto-oncogenes. Recent results suggest that indeed this may be the case.