Reviewer: George M Rodgers, MD, PhD (University of Utah School of Medicine)
Description: This is a series of concise reviews on the underlying molecular features and characteristic aberrancies of a variety of malignant and benign hematological conditions. Each chapter covers a particular disease or group of related diseases, such as acute myeloid leukemia, platelet disorders, or malaria, written by experts in the molecular pathology of that disease. Several chapters cover more general topics such as stem cells, iron metabolism, and pharmacogenomics, or are historical surveys of the development of molecular biology with an emphasis on our evolving understanding of the pathogenesis of common hematological diseases. Chapters are brief, about 10-20 pages, and organized into short, easily digested subtopics supported by two to ten figures, on average, that visually summarize key concepts and conclude with a brief summary and a section of references. The accompanying ebook has some basic search features and highlighting and bookmarking functions but no additional content or audiovisual material. The previous edition of this book was published in 2010.
Purpose: The purpose is to provide an up-to-date and concise review of the molecular mechanisms underlying common as well as some rarer but notable benign and malignant hematological disorders. The emphasis is on the important features that help in diagnosing these conditions and on providing a conceptual framework for newer therapies that have been developed in the past several years, as well as genetic and molecular features that provide important prognostic and predictive information about the clinical behavior of these diseases. It is not intended to be comprehensive or highly detailed, but rather to address the most important topics of immediate clinical relevance. Works like these are particularly helpful as a reference or as an easily accessible introduction for clinicians and nonspecialist researchers and, given all the advances in recent years, an update is particularly needed. The accompanying ebook version naturally provides greater portability for readers who inevitably have easy access to computers or electronic reading devices. For the most part, the book achieves its goals, as most of the chapters provide excellent reviews. The chapters on CLL, myeloma, iron metabolism, and hemoglobinopathies are particularly outstanding, while the chapter on AML is disappointingly brief and simplified at times, despite all the interesting and important advances of recent years. I particularly found the chapter on anemia of chronic disease to be an excellent discussion of a frequently overlooked but very important topic.
Audience: According to the authors, the book is intended for "both the seasoned molecular biologist and the practicing clinician alike." It seems most appropriate for practicing hematologists or hematopathologists, as well as perhaps serving as a good introduction for nonspecialist researchers. It is most beneficial for practicing clinicians who want to increase their knowledge of the molecular pathophysiology of hematological diseases, and higher-level trainees such as fellows or advanced residents also might find it useful. While some chapters go into a fair amount of detail, such as the chapter on bone marrow failure syndromes and red blood cell enzymopathies, in general, the book is too concise to be of much use for specialist researchers, but could serve as a good introduction for nonspecialist researchers (i.e., not already specializing in a particular area of the molecular biology of hematological disorders) who wish to learn more about this topic, for example, stem cell biologists who want a clear and concise introduction to iron metabolism. It is very clearly written and emphasizes the most high-yield information of immediate clinical importance, thus serving as an excellent introductory resource. Most of the chapters have a fairly robust further reading section with excellent references to additional reviews that go into more depth or key primary research journal articles, and these are usually organized by subtopic; thus the book is also a good springboard for those who would like to read in more detail about a particular topic. Unfortunately, in a few of the chapters, such as the chapter on ALL, the further reading section is disappointingly brief with only two references. Both authors are well-respected researchers in their field with excellent publication records, and the contributors to each chapter are likewise well-known experts on their respective topics and include people like David Scadden, Jorge Cortes, Anthony Letai, and Tomas Ganz, who have all contributed significantly to the advancement of their fields.
Features: The focus of the book is on giving a concise and up-to-date review of the molecular pathophysiological features underlying malignant and benign hematological conditions and, for the most part, it uses individual diseases or related groups of diseases as its organizing principle with chapters addressing malignant hematological conditions, including AML and myeloid malignancies, ALL, CML, MPNs, lymphoma, and myeloma, as well as benign hematological conditions, including bone marrow failure syndromes, anemia of chronic disease, iron metabolism-related disorders, hemoglobinopathies, malaria, and the various clotting, bleeding, and platelet disorders. Additional chapters cover transfusion medicine and autoimmune hematological disorders. This treatment of individual diseases and groups of related disorders in dedicated chapters is fairly standard across similar hematology book. Before delving into the disease-focused chapters, the book starts off with a chapter summarizing the historical development of hemoglobin research as well as a general chapter on stem cells, which is foundational for most of the disease-focused chapters that follow. The book ends with several chapters on more overarching themes, such as gene therapy, pharmacogenomics, and cancer stem cells. The strongest features of this book are its clear presentation of the material and its general ability to focus concisely on the most important and clinically relevant aspects of each disease without overwhelming readers with more arcane details; most chapters have excellent references for those who wish to pursue the topic in greater depth. Each chapter has excellent figures and tables, but readers who prefer a more visual presentation of the material might find the number of figures insufficient. Some chapters, including those on myeloma, CLL, and bone marrow failure syndromes, are very well done, while others, such as the chapter on AML, are disappointingly brief, particularly given all the recent advances since the previous edition of this book. The chapter on anemia of chronic disease is particularly helpful as it highlights one of most the commonly encountered conditions in hematology, which is nevertheless often underappreciated and poorly understood by clinicians. Generally, the book is fairly comprehensive and strikes an appropriate balance between conciseness and depth in content. Notable omissions include a lack of discussion of MDS/MPN overlap syndromes such as CMML (relatively common) and JMML (quite rare), which don't seem to find a home in any of the chapters, as well as the porphyrias. While minimal residual disease measurement is addressed in the appropriate disease-focused chapters, it is one of two emerging topics in molecular hematology probably deserving its own comprehensive chapter, the other being immune therapies.
Assessment: Overall, this is an excellent introduction and quick resource for anyone interested in understanding the key molecular pathological characteristics of benign and malignant hematological conditions that emphasizes the most clinically relevant features in terms of diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutics. While many clinical and research journals publish similar reviews each year, it is of great benefit to have a compilation of excellent reviews on all the major topics in hematology such as this book provides. It is clearly written by indisputable experts in their fields and logically organized, enabling readers to easily find and focus on any particular area of interest. While it is fairly comprehensive in terms of the breadth of the topics it covers, it is not intended to serve as a thorough and highly detailed textbook, such as Wintrobe's Clinical Hematology, 14th edition, Greer et al. (Wolters Kluwer, 2019), or Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice, 7th edition, Hoffman et al. (Elsevier, 2018). The most appropriate audience is clinicians wishing an update on the most recent advances in the molecular pathophysiology of hematological disorders and advanced trainees such as fellows, although nonspecialist researchers also might find this to be a helpful introduction to new fields of inquiry or perhaps related to their own area. Most of the chapters are generally of high quality and cover all the important topics in hematology with only a few notable omissions. The figures and tables are valuable and helpful, but some of the chapters might benefit from more visual aids. This book, however, is not intended to be an atlas or visual resource, such as Color Atlas of Clinical Hematology: Molecular and Cellular Basis of Disease, 5th edition, Hoffbrand et al., or Anderson's Atlas of Hematology, 3rd edition, Anderson Young and Poulsen (Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2021). As one of this book's main goals is to provide an up-to-date review of key topics in molecular hematology, this new edition is greatly needed given the many significant advances that have occurred in the almost 10 years since the previous edition.