This issue of Hematology/Oncology Clinics is guest edited by Dr. A. Koneti Rao and focuses on Disorder of the Platelets. Article titles include: Mechanisms of Platelet Activation and Inhibition, Testing Platelet Function, Clinical Implications of Platelet Genomics and Proteomics, Congenital Thrombocytopenias, Immune Thrombocytopenias, Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia, and Functional defects: Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) and beyond

2014 BMA Medical Book Awards Highly Commended in Internal Medicine category! This textbook on haematology in the Illustrated Colour Text series is suitable for medical students, junior doctors and others needing a concise and practical introduction to the subject. Concise and manageable coverage of the major blood diseases and their treatment. Does not overload the reader with science, unlike some competing books. Focus is on the haematology patient and on the practical aspects of the subject. Makes use of the attractive features of the ICT series - double page spreads, lots of colour illustrations, summary boxes. Updating to take account of recenty developments in stem cell biology. Increased emphasis on genomic and proteomic techniques in the diagnosis of haematological malignancy. Use of new imaging techniques including MRI and PET. Description of advances in treatment of leukaemia and lymphoma and in diagnosis and management of patients with thrombophilia and venous thrombosis. Development of new antimicrobial agents in management of immunosuppressed patients with infection. New double page spread on palliative care of patients with blood disorders. New illustrations.

Typically, manuals of pediatric hematology-oncology are written by specialists from high-income countries, and usually target an audience with a sub-specialist level of training, often assisted by cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment facilities. However, approximately 80% of new cases of cancer in children appear in mid- and low-income countries. Almost invariably, general practitioners or general pediatricians without special training in oncology will look after children with malignancies who enter the health care system in these countries. The diagnostic facilities are usually limited, as are the treatment options. The survival figures in these conditions are somewhere below 20%, while in high-income countries they are in the range of 80% for many childhood cancers. Pediatric Hematology-Oncology in Countries with Limited Resources is the only book of its kind to provide specific guidance applicable to limited resource settings and builds up from the foundation of general practitioner or general pediatrician competence. Written and edited by leaders in the field, this manual educates physicians on the essential components of the discipline, filtered through the experience of specialists from developing countries, with immediate applicability in the specific healthcare environment in these countries.

Topics include: A Critical re-appraisal of Factor VIIa; Thrombocytopenia: Hit vs non-HIT causes; Transfusion Reactions: Newer concepts on the pathophysiology, incidence, treatment and prevention of TRALI; The utility of diagnostic scoring systems for DIC; Newer anticoagulants; Anemia in the ICU; The role of plasmapheresis in critical illness; The use of erythropoiesis stimulating agents in the ICU; and Coagulopathy in the ICU: DIC vs Liver disease. Is this distinction important?

Topics include: Clinical Predictors of Outcome in MPNs; Molecular pathogenesis of MPNs; Disordered signaling in MPNs; Role of TET2/ASXL1 in MPN Pathogenesis; Pathogenesis and treatment of systemic mastocytosis; Role of additional novel therapies in MPNs; Role of novel mutations in MPN pathogenesis and outcome; Role of JAK inhibitors in MPN treatment; Animal Models of MPNs; and Role of Germline Genetic Factors in MPN Pathogenesis.

Topics in this issue?include: Targeting IGF-1R; Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors in Lung Cancer; Targeting mTOR; Targeting Hedgehog; Mitotic Inhibitors; Topoisomerase I Inhibitors; and New Strategies and Drugs Inhibiting Folate Pathways.

Dr. Talpaz has assembled top experts to write state-of-the art reviews on the management of chronic myelogenous leukemia. Some of the articles that will be of most interest include Selection of Therapy: Rational Decisions Based on Molecular Events; Is There a Potential Cure for CML in Current Therapies?; Hurdles Toward a Cure for CML: The CML Stem Cell; The CML Stem Cell in the Chronic and Advanced Disease; CML Disease Progression; Management of Ph+ ALL and CML Blast Crisis; BMT in CML in the Era of Targeted Therapy; Pharmacoeconomics: The Cost of Staying Alive; and The Significance of CML Prognostic Factors in the Era of Targeted Therapy.

Topics for this issue will include: CLL: ? A Historical Perspective; Incidence & Epidemiology; Biology, Molecular Biology & Cytogenetics of CLL; What does the status of smatic hypermutations in IGVH genes tell us about the origin of CLL?; What does the status of ZAP-70 tell us about the biology of CLL?; and Approach to initial therapy: When to start therapy?

Thalassemia is discussed comprehensively by the authors in this issue.? Topics discussed include the population genetics and dynamimcs of thalassemia, alpha thalassemia, HbE/beta thalassemia, management of iron overload in thalassemia syndromes, allogeneic cellular gene therapy for hemoglobinopathies, cord blood transplantation for beta thalassemia major, and gene therapy for hemoglobin disorders.

Dr. Connors has provided comprehensive coverage of the pregnant patient with hematologic disorders--from management in early pregnancy to delivery. Hematologic disorders covered include anemia, myeloproliferative disorders, von Willebrand disease, leukemia and lymphoma, thrombochytopenia, and thrombophilia. Other important topics in this issue include anesthesia in the pregnant patient with a hematologic disorder as well as transfusion medicine.

This textbook is written by a renowned haematologist with more than 30 years of experience in teaching haematology to medical students and whose pedagogical and writing skills are widely admired within the field. Following closely the current curriculum of Imperial College London, medical students, trainee nurses and biomedical science students from other institutions will find the textbook equally suitable, since it includes the core student haematology curriculum as recommended by the Royal College of Pathologists and the British Society of Haematology expert group. This text will be equally suitable for students outside the UK.

The textbook takes a useful, practical approach, incorporating self-evaluation questions and learning objectives that give students not only the information needed to understand the topic but also clear indications on the core knowledge that students are required to know in order to progress within the field of haematology.

This issue addresses hypercoagulable states, such as antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, cancer-associated thrombosis, and coagulopathy associated with sepsis.? New anticoagulants discussed include oral Xa inhibitors, oral IIa inhibitors, agents for the treatment of HIT, and use of low molecular weight heparin to improve survival in cancer patients.

This issue provides the reader with a summary of evidence-based therapies of how to manage emergency care for cancer disorders.? Articles are dedicated to specific presentation syndromes, such as malignant epidural spinal cord compression, superior vena cava syndrome, and airway obstruction. These reviews update the reader on evidence-based therapies for these entities and highlight the emerging role of stent therapies. This issue also includes articles dealing with the neurological, renal, and metabolic (electrolyte and adrenal) emergencies encountered in the cancer patient. Also addressed are selected gastrointestinal presentations commonly encountered in cancer patients, such as the acute abdomen, gastrointestinal bleeding, and hepatic encephalopathy. The issue concludes with several articles dedicated to hematologic considerations including venous thrombosis, acquired bleeding disturbances, and myeloproliferative/hyperviscosity syndromes.

Major strides have been made in the treatment and understanding of Myelodysplasia.? The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved three new drugs for the treatment of MDS; new disease genes have been discovered; major insights have been made into the biology of the disorder; and animal models of MDS have been developed.? The articles in this issue illustrate the rapid progress in MDS research, from molecular pathophysiology to improved therapies.? Insights into the biology of MDS, the development of model systems to study MDS, and the application of new technologies with unprecedented power to interrogate the cancer genome promise to increase the rate of discovery, transforming our understanding of MDS and leading to improvements in the treatment this disease.

The understanding of hemostasis physiology has been considerably advanced by models of kinetics and by the complicated interplay of cells and soluble coagulation factors. How this physiology is currently, or will eventually, be reflected in clinical laboratory testing is the subject of this monograph; this information is key for laboratorians to implement physiologic concepts into practical data and for clinicians to understand the basis of and therefore correctly treat hemostatic disease. Many thousands of patients present with bleeding disorders or bleeding complications of other diseases, and millions of individuals suffer the morbidity and mortality of thromboembolic complications. How laboratory testing confronts the challenge of predicting different hemostatic risks and guiding therapy is the critical subtext of the chapters in this monograph. New developments in hemostasis physiology have identified thrombin as an important, if not central, coordinator of hemostatic function and thus a target for measurement to assess hemostatic function and risk. Whether such measurements as endogenous thrombin potential or thromboelastography will accurately predict and/or quantitate global hemostatic function is an important question. Modeling the clinical risks of bleeding or thromboembolism currently uses the laboratory presence or absence of particular risk factors, but our clinical understanding of risk appears to more closely approximate a dynamic model, even within individual patients. Therefore, testing for platelet dysfunction or comprehending the functional implications of a lupus anticoagulant may rely on our evolving comprehension of hemostasis phyisology and perhaps require more sophisticated interpretation of clinical predictors of hemostatic risk. This monograph aims to shed some light in these areas and promote investigation of such key hemostasis issues.

Chronic immune thrombocytopenia is a disease in which the immune system destroys platelets (blood cells involved in the clotting process). Patients with ITP have abnormal bruising and bleeding, and severe disease can be life threatening. For many patients, standard drug treatments are not effective, and many of the drugs used may have significant side effects with long-term use. Among the articles in this issue, some focus on the traditional and newer treatments for the disease. Other articles focus on diagnosis and treatment of the disease in pregnancy, lymphoproliferative disorders, in thyroid disease, in rheumatologic disorders, and in children. Also discussed are infectious causes.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common malignancy diagnosed in children, representing nearly one third of all pediatric cancers. The annual incidence of ALL is about 30 cases per million people, with a peak incidence in children aged 2-5 years. Although a few cases are associated with inherited genetic syndromes, the cause of ALL remains largely unknown. This issue presents articles that discuss current thinking on the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Articles specifically emphasize molecular genetics, allogeneic stem cell transplantation, and treatments including, clofarabine, nelarabine, rituximab, and PegAsp.

This issue focuses on neoplastic hematopathology. Thirteen articles written by leading experts in the field cover a number of specific disease entities including the acute leukemias, myelodysplastic syndromes, myeloproliferative diseases, multiple myeloma and the chronic lymphoid leukemias. The spectrum of lymphoid cancers and related disorders is also covered, including articles on reactive and atypical lymphoproliferative disorders, Hodgkin lymphoma, small B cell malignancies, the aggressive B cell lymphomas, as well as Burkitt lymphoma and the entire spectrum of peripheral T cell lymphomas. Finally, two more generic articles cover current issues in bone marrow pathology for lymphoma diagnosis and staging and finally a cutting-edge chapter on molecular diagnostics in hematopathology.

Managing infections that complicate care of neutropenic patients with leukemia and hematopoietic stem cell recipients has become a distinct specialty. In Managing Infections in Patients with Hematological Malignancies, the authors and editor draw on their extensive expertise while providing a roadmap for hematologists to efficiently manage the complex infections within their patients. The first section of the text reviews viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogens, and provides brief descriptions of the microbes and diseases they cause in patients with hematological malignancies. The second section is devoted to management of infections in patients with the different underlying hematological malignancies, while the third addresses several important topics that are often ignored in most books about infections and hematological malignancies. Managing Infections in Hematological Malignancies is a useful tool for all clinicians and practicing hematologists who treat individual patients and aspire to build stronger infectious diseases programs within their respective cancer centers.

Many diseases earlier considered to be incurable are now being treated with modern innovations involving fetal tissue transplants and stem cells derived from fetal tissues. Fetal tissues are the richest source of fetal stem cells as well as other varying states of differentiated cells and support or stromal cells. The activity of such stem cells is at their peak provided they are given the correct niche. Stem cells, as we know, are immortal cells with the capacity to regenerate into any kind of differentiated cell as per niche-guidance. As such, fetal tissues have the potential capacity to mend, regenerate and repair damaged cells or tissues in adults, when directly transplanted to the site of injury, or even when transplanted in some other site, because it may have a homing capacity to migrate to the site of the specific injured organ. This is a new area of translational research and needs to be highlighted because of its immense potential. This book will bring together the new work of prominent medical scientists and clinicians who are conducting pioneering research in human fetal tissue transplantation. This will include direct transplant of healthy fetal tissue into mature patients as well as in hosts with genetic diseases. Transplant techniques, donor-host interaction, cell and tissue storage, ethical and legal issues, are some of the many matters which the book will deal with.

The mature T and NK cell lymphomas are rare, comprising approximately 10% of all malignant lymphomas. The incidence of T- cell lymphoma is variable around the world, with a higher incidence compared to B-cell lymphomas in the Asian basin. While the overall incidence of B-cell lymphomas has begun to decline in the United States, the incidence of T-cell lymphomas continues to rise. Over the last decade, a number of novel agents have been developed which target T-cell lymphomas and studies have identified novel genes and pathways associated with lymphomagenesis in T-cells. This comprehensive volume examines the clinical and biological aspects of the T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders in adults and children. The book includes an overview of both the cutaneous and the systemic T-cell malignancies and addresses the classification of T-cell lymphomas, the clinical features of each subtype, and the relevant molecular and genetic studies. Clinical outcomes and treatment strategies are discussed with an emphasis on the development of novel biological and targeted therapies. An outstanding resource for hematologists and oncologists, this book gathers insights from experts in the field and provides the most up-to-date information on all of the T-cell lymphoma subgroups and current and emerging therapies.