Molecular-Targeted Therapies for Hematologic Malignancies
1Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
2Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
3Oncology Division, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
Molecular-Targeted Therapies for Hematologic Malignancies
Description
Major advances in the disciplines of hematology, genetics, biochemistry, and chemistry over the past decades have empowered investigators with the background and methods required for development of customized molecular-targeted therapies. The ability to identify signaling pathways that are dysregulated to determine the associated mutations and to develop chemical drugs toward a desired correction is now a reality. Through much hard work, we now know the key drivers of some hematologic malignancies, and depending on the particular disease, we have an arsenal of agents available to act at multiple nodal points. Some enabling technologies that have been a key for these advances include small molecule screening, high throughput whole genome sequencing, mouse models for cancer, and gene and microRNA expression array analyses. In this special issue, we aim to publish articles that contribute to our understanding of molecular targets and the development of approaches for their inhibition or rationale use of existing agents or their derivatives. This can include targeting aberrantly activated drivers of leukemogenesis or key supportive pathways that are essential for maintenance and progression of hematologic disease. Molecular-targeted therapies have already been validated in chronic myelogenous leukemia and bring great promise for therapy of leukemia, lymphoma, and plasma cell dyscrasias. This special issue will be open to review articles in addition to the original research articles. The topics to be covered include, but are not limited to:
- Approaches to understand and block abnormal myeloproliferation and the associated pathologies of the bone marrow
- Therapies that target leukemias and lymphomas driven by oncogenes and their critical targets
- Therapies that target the proteasome because of specific efficacy in diseases such as myeloma and further understanding of the mechanisms
- Studies of signal transduction molecules critical for hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell survival, proliferation, and self-renewal
- Guidelines for clinical applications and trials
Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ah/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: