We first assessed GATA3 mRNA expression by microarray analysis and found that mean expression of GATA3 was higher in T-ALL (4.88 ± 0.41, mean ± s.e., n = 83) than in other cohorts (NC 1.33 ± 0.11, n = 24; AML 0.57 ± 0.05, n = 130; and BCP-ALL 3.28 ± 0.66, n = 81; all values are mean ± s.e., p < 0.001) (Fig. 1a). This evidence concerns the gene GATA3 and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.