Genomic approaches in acute leukemia

The application of expression-based genomic approaches to medical research is traced here, particularly as they relate to hematologic malignancy. DNA microarray technology and its role in the refinement of the taxonomy of disease, the development of models of outcome prediction, and the identification of therapeutic targets are discussed. Particular attention is given to the exploration of a signature-based screening approach, which bypasses the need to have a priori knowledge of the target.