Role of ABL family kinases in cancer: from leukaemia to solid tumours.

Although the ABL1 kinase is well known as the fusion partner with BCR in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), roles for the ABL family (ABL1 and ABL2) in solid tumours are beginning to be uncovered. Small-molecule ABL inhibitors are crucial in CML therapy, but can these kinases be targeted for therapeutic benefit in other cancer types?