Lenalidomide is an immunomodulatory agent that has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of multiple myeloma, deletion 5q myelodysplastic syndrome, and mantle cell lymphoma. In addition, it has clinical activity in lymphoproliferative disorders and acute myeloid leukemia. The mode of action includes immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antiangiogenic, and antiprolif...

Mitogen-activated protein (Map) kinases are widely expressed serine-threonine kinases that mediate important regulatory signals in the cell. Three major groups of Map kinases exist: the p38 Map kinase family, the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk) family, and the c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) family. The members of the different Map kinase groups participate in the generation of vari...

Risk prediction in patients with neutropenia and fever in a reliable and timely manner has only become possible in the last decade. Patients have been categorized as high risk or low risk based on certain presenting characteristics. Low-risk patients may be defined as hemodynamically stable, with responsive or controlled malignancies, brief (< or = 7-day) periods of neutropenia, and no signific...

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), characterized by deposition of intra-alveolar PAS positive protein and lipid rich material, is a rare cause of progressive respiratory failure first described by Rosen et al. in 1958. The intra-alveolar lipoproteinaceous material was subsequently proven to have been derived from pulmonary surfactant in 1980 by Singh et al. Levinson et al. also reported in 1...

© 2012 Kevin D. Bunting et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which permits making multiple copies, distribution, public display, and publicly performance, distribution of derivative works, provided the original work is properly cited. This license requires credit...

Burkitt lymphoma (BL), a tumor occurring in endemic, sporadic and AIDS-associated forms, is the classic example of a human malignancy whose pathogenesis involves a specific cellular genetic change, namely, a chromosomal translocation deregulating expression of the c-myc oncogene, complemented in many cases by the action of an oncogenic virus, the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Here we review recent ...

Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent antigen-presenting cells that constitute a major component of the immune system's role in the recognition, elimination, and tolerance of cancer. The unique immunologic capabilities of DCs have recently been harnessed for therapeutic use with the creation of DC-based anti-tumor vaccines, several of which have moved into testing in clinical trials for hematologic ...

Correspondence: Elżbieta Górska, Department of Laboratory Diagnostics and Clinical Immunology of Developmental Age, Medical University of Warsaw, ul. Marszałkowska 24, 00-576 Warszawa, phone/fax: +48 22 629 65 17, e-mail: [email protected] Abstract Leptin is a cytokine which exerts highly pleiotropic activity serving as an important factor in the processes of fat tissue metabolism and en...

Although the survival rate of hematologic malignancies in young patients is very high, cytotoxic therapies such as chemotherapy and total body irradiation therapy can significantly reduce a patient's reproductive capacity and cause irreversible infertility. Early ovarian failure also commonly occurs following additional cancer treatment, bone marrow transplantation, or autologous transplantatio...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) continues to be a major problem related to both community and nosocomially acquired infection. Nevertheless few data are presently available in literature about this infection in patients with hematologic malignancies. DESIGN AND METHODS The purpose of this retrospective study was to report further data on the clinical character...