Towards a molecular classification of hematolymphoid neoplasms: where are we now? Where are we going?

Beginning with the discovery of the Philadelphia chromosome in 1960, our descriptions and definitions of hematological malignancies have been successively refined and revised to include morphological, immunophenotypic, and molecular genetic features. As hematopathologists, we now see beyond architectural and cytologic alterations and have, to some degree, become molecular morphologists. Indeed, our "view" of diseases now includes a rudimentary understanding of the molecular genetic abnormalities present in the cells we study under the microscope.