Comparative research in leukemia and related diseases. An introduction to a scientific approach

The conduction of the XIX Symposium of the International Association for Comparative Research on Leukemia and Related Diseases (IACRLRD) led the authors to write an article introducing comparative research in leukemia and related diseases. Our survey briefly summarizes the history of this symposium, as it evolved from a meeting on animal leukemia viruses into one dealing with viral and genetic aspects of human and animal leukemia and related diseases including AIDS. The scientific evolution of the Abelson murine leukemia virus with its abl oncogene in the 1970s, to what currently appears as the most reliable marker for human chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), is just one example.