Interactions between SNPs affecting inflammatory response genes are associated with multiple myeloma disease risk and survival.

The origin of multiple myeloma depends on interactions with stromal cells in the course of normal B-cell differentiation and evolution of immunity. The concept of the present study is that genes involved in MM pathogenesis, such as immune response genes, can be identified by screening for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) involved in the immune response and a subsequent statistical analysis that focusses on the association of SNPs, certain haplotypes or SNP-SNP interactions with MM risk and prognosis. We genotyped 348 Danish patients and 355 controls for 13 SNPs located in the TNFA, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and CHI3L1 gene promoters.

[Novel medical treatment modalities in hematology].

Today several monoclonal antibodies, including the anti-CD20 antibody (rituximab), the anti-CD52 antibody (alemtuzumab) and the anti-CD33 antibody (gemtuzumab ozogamacin) are all integrated in the therapeutic armamentarium of patients with malignant lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and acute myelogenous leukaemia, respectively. Rituximab has also been shown to be highly effective in the treatment of refractory autoimmune haemolytic anemias, idiopathic thrombocytopenia, and relapsing thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. New signal transduction inhibitors, dasatinib and nilotinib, are being used in patients with chronic myelogeneous leukaemia who develop resistance to imatinib.