Activated c-Abl tyrosine kinase in malignant solid tumors.

Mutant forms of the c-ABL gene are well known to be involved in hematopoietic malignancies such as chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). CML patients possess a fused BCR-ABL gene that activates the Abl tyrosine kinase domain within Bcr-Abl. In general fusion proteins that cause oligomerization of Abl lead to activation of its tyrosine kinase activity. In this review, we highlight recent discoveries indicating that the activated c-Abl tyrosine kinase, not as a fusion protein, plays an important role in malignant solid tumors of lung and breast.