Hairy cell leukemia is a rare lymphoid neoplasm arising from mature B-lymphocytes. Clinically, the disease presents with splenomegaly and abdominal discomfort, frequent infections, fatigue and bleeding because of related cytopenias. Bone marrow biopsy is essential for diagnosis. Below we describe a case of a 70-year-old African-American male who presented to our hematology clinic complaining of...

Castleman's disease (CD) is a very rare lymphoproliferative disorder whose underlying pathophysiology is not fully understood and for which no standard treatment exists. Because interleukin-1 (IL-1) might promote the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a key pathogenic factor for the disease, we hypothesized that blocking the interleukin-1 receptor would be a useful therapy for CD. We report th...

Tumors are considered to be possible targets of immunotherapy using stimulated and expanded autologous or allogeneic natural killer (NK) cells mismatched for MHC class I molecules and inhibitory NK receptors. NK cell-based immunoadjuvant therapies are carried out in combination with standard chemotherapeutic protocols. In the presented study, we characterized the effect of 28 frequently used ch...

and efficacy of treatment in patients with LC in the course of BCLL are controversial. Many authors describe poor prognosis, when LC shows blastic transformation, known as Richter’s syndrome, and when it appears after the diagnosis of B-CLL. The potential benefit of treating only skin lesions has not been documented; however, these patients rarely stay without treatment. Numerous therapeutic mo...

In this study, the potential effects of bacteria on the efficacy of frequently used chemotherapies was examined. Bacteria and cancer cell lines were examined in vitro and in vivo for changes in the efficacy of cancer cell killing mediated by chemotherapeutic agents. Of 30 drugs examined in vitro, the efficacy of 10 was found to be significantly inhibited by certain bacteria, while the same bact...

With the introduction of interferon- β 1b in 1993 as the first FDA-approved treatment for multiple sclerosis, the era of treatment of this incurable disease began, and its natural course was permanently changed. Currently, seven different treatments for patients with multiple sclerosis with different mechanisms of action and dissimilar side effect profiles exist. These medications include inter...