Among members of the downstream of tyrosine kinase (DOK) genes, Berger AH et al have identified DOK-2 as the target tumor suppressor gene whose copy number loss is associated with development of lung cancer in humans and in mice both in vitro and in vivo. The loss of DOK-2 serves as a broken link in the maintenance of pulmonary alveolar cells and leads to the proliferation of mutated cells.

Genomic rearrangements of chromosomal material, whether inter- or intra-chromosomal, are observed in many cancers but the complete significance of such mutations is unknown. Using new paired-end sequencing Stephens et al have found that tandem duplications are more common in some forms of breast cancer than others and may identify a new subset with diagnostic and/or therapeutic implications.

Ting Li et al have investigated the expression of ALDH1A1 in prostate cancer stem cells using both in vivo and in vitro techniques including immunohistochemistry. Increased ALDH1A1 was found in prostate cancer and its expression correlated with Gleason's grade.

Stumpel et al show that abnormal DNA methylation of specific promoter regions is present in a proportion of cases of MLL-rearranged infantile acute lymphoblastic leukemia with MLL translocations t(4;11) and t(11;19). Inhibition of such aberrant methylation may prove to be a target for treatment in these patients.