Foreword – European Haematology, 2010;4:6

Welcome to this edition of European Haematology. This publication strives to address important advances and issues in the field of haematology, and the articles included have been selected for their significance and substance. The result is a collection of outstanding articles that discuss and review many of the important issues that haematologists throughout Europe, and indeed globally, confront every day.

Welcome to this edition of European Haematology. This publication strives to address important advances and issues in the field of haematology, and the articles included have been selected for their significance and substance. The result is a collection of outstanding articles that discuss and review many of the important issues that haematologists throughout Europe, and indeed globally, confront every day.
This edition begins with a discussion by Ruth Clifford and Tim J Littlewood of the increased efficacy in the treatment of chemotherapy-related anaemia. Approximately 75% of patients receiving chemotherapy for cancer will become anaemic during the course of their treatment. Several recent trials have suggested that the rate and speed of haemoglobin response can be improved if intravenous (IV) iron is given in combination with the erythropoiesis-stimulating agent, and also that the IV iron preparations are safe. Daan Dierickx and Len Verbeke describe the currently available evidence on the use of rituximab in immunemediated anaemia, and also reflect on potential side effects that might hamper the initial enthusiasm for its use in these disorders.
In the ‘Thrombosis’ section, Murray J Adams discusses thrombin and its central role in haemostasis through both procoagulant and anticoagulant functions and the recent advances in understanding a wider scope of physiological roles of thrombin, as well as improvements in technology that have resulted in less technically demanding and more reproducible methods.
Paolo Ricchi et al. assess the role of hypocholesterolaemia as a potential source of several clinical features of patients affected by thalassaemia in the ‘Haemoglobinopathies’ section. Their primary focus is the extent of the phenomenon among different forms of thalassaemia in order to highlight the particularly reduced level in patients with thalassaemia intermedia.
Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation is now the standard of care for relapsed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and for subgroups of patients with multiple myeloma. In the ‘Transplantation’ section, Gunnar Kvalheim et al. discuss how the use of plerixafor for peripheral blood progenitor cell mobilisation reduces the frequency of mobilisation failures in patients scheduled for treatment with autotransplantation.
Azra Raza and Naomi Galili describe the biology of myelodysplastic syndromes and their characterisation by excessive proliferation followed by intramedullary apoptosis of haematopoietic cells. These biological insights, some quite unexpected, are opening the doors to entirely novel areas of research and will hopefully lead to better outcomes for patients through translational research.
European Haematology also includes a variety of articles spanning a number of haematological malignancies. Sameer A Parikh and Stefan Faderl discuss the clinical management of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia, while Mary Frances McMullin discusses the diagnosis and treatment of erythrocytosis. Hermann Einsele et al. highlight the progress of front-line treatment of multiple myeloma and Valeria Magarotto and Antonio Palumbo evaluate how to balance the efficacy and tolerability of first-line treatment in elderly myeloma patients.
European Haematology would like to thank everyone involved for successfully providing interesting and informative expert discussion of a variety on haematological disorders and malignancies that warrant our debate, time and attention. We would like to thank the organisations, media partners and Editorial Board for their continued support, and also extend our gratitude to the individual authors for their time and effort, which has resulted in a selection of excellent articles. We trust you will find this edition an informative and enjoyable read. ■