It is tempting to speculate that such a GATA3 repressive mechanism onto the Notch pathway may be defective in early T-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ETP-ALL) cases that are associated with GATA3 mutations45 as these may lead to aberrant Notch activation and inhibition of further T-lineage differentiation. This evidence concerns the gene GATA3 and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.