Integrative oncogenomic analysis of microarray data in hematologic malignancies.

During the last decade, gene expression microarrays and array-based comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH) have unraveled the complexity of human tumor genomes more precisely and comprehensively than ever before. More recently, the simultaneous assessment of global changes in messenger RNA (mRNA) expression and in DNA copy number through "integrative oncogenomic" analyses has allowed researchers the access to results uncovered through the analysis of one-dimensional data sets, thus accelerating cancer gene discovery. In this chapter, we discuss the major contributions of DNA microarrays to the study of hematological malignancies, focusing on the integrative oncogenomic approaches that correlate genomic and transcriptomic data. We also present the basic aspects of these methodologies and their present and future application in clinical oncology.