[Modern therapy of hematologic malignancies]

Abstract

Remarkable progress has been done during the last three decades in the therapy of hematological malignancies. It is now possible to cure significant number of patients by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and stem cell transplantation. However, there is still a large group of patients and situations where our approaches are failing. It is evident that in some circumstance chemotherapy and radiotherapy get close to their limits. A short insight into the group of novel therapeutic methods is given in this review. Such promising methods of treatment include the new chemotherapeutic drugs, new molecules that specifically act on the level molecular mechanisms (STI 571, ATRA, arsenic trioxide, etc.), immunotherapy (monoclonal antibodies, vaccination strategy, exploration of dendritic cells etc.), gene therapy and innovations in stem cell transplantation (graft versus leukemia/lymphoma effect). The future treatment will include combination of standard or intensified chemo/radiotherapy and the new methods, which allow better control of the disease.