There are many studies which demonstrate a higher risk for malignancy in patients with rheumatic diseases. There have been a number of possible explanations for the differences in the risk of certain malignancies in patients with rheumatic disease, compared with general population, but a clear mechanism is difficult to identify.Rheumatoid syndromes may be associated with malignancy as paraneopl...

Since the 1980s it is known that an important thrombogenic mechanism is mediated by antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). Aim of this review is to discuss how much aPL presence may worsen the thrombophilic state of neoplastic patients and how much cancer may worsen and extend the thrombophilic state of patients with Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS). In the last years a higher prevalence of aPL was ...

Although home care (HC) of cancer patients is a common practice, so far only limited efforts have been made to define its role in the global management of patients suffering from malignant blood disorders, who are mainly treated in hospital or in outpatient clinics. HC has not been intensively applied in the treatment of these malignancies, this approach having been traditionally reserved for t...

Angiogenesis, the growth of new capillary blood vessels, is a central regulator of cancer growth, and a validated target for cancer therapy. The antiangiogenic agents in clinical use target one or more cellular pathways involved in the cascade of vascular growth. In haematological malignancies, angiogenesis occurs within a bone marrow ecosystem comprised of closely apposed malignant cells, endo...

I. HODGKIN’S LYMPHOMA A. Presentation 1. Subjective. Classical Hodgkin’s disease or Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) usually presents as painless lymphadenopathy in the cervical and/or supraclavicular regions. Isolated subdiaphragmatic lymphadenopathy or organ involvement is rare. Although staging studies reveal mediastinal adenopathy in more than 85% of patients, symptoms of cough, chest pain, dyspnea,...

Malignant melanomas in situ can usually be treated in consultation with a specialist (C). Larger lesions may require referral. Based on best available evidence, surgical excision is the first-line treatment for most nonmelanoma skin cancers, with cure rates as high as 98% with proper margins. Consider Mohs surgery for larger lesions, sclerosing lesions with morpheaform histology, or for cosmeti...

Beginning with esophageal cancer of both the adeno and squamous variety, it would appear that combined modality therapy is here to stay. Most cancer programs now advocate chemotherapy, usually cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil together with radiation therapy, prior to definitive esophagectomy for localized disease. An exciting advance is the discovery of the activity of paclitaxel in this setting, a...

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection has been implicated in the aetiopathogenic mechanisms of several neoplastic and non-neoplastic disorders. Although the precise mechanisms of the tumourigenic actions of EBV have not yet been fully elucidated, this virus has been strongly linked to subtypes of Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (especially Burkitt’s lymphoma), HIV/AIDS lymphomas, nasopharyng...

(ARNT; also known as hypoxia inducible factor 1-β) is a member of the basic-helix-loop-helix-Per/ARNT/Sim (bHLH-PAS) family of transcription factors. ARNT is a common binding partner in this family and predominantly heterodimerizes with HIF-1α, or the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), and aids in the recognition of their respective DNA binding sequences [1]. The AHR has been recognized for decad...