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Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is characterized by distinctive morphologic, cytogenetic, and molecular genetic features, some of which have important clinical implications for both diagnosis and predicting response to specific treatment regimens, while the role of others is yet to be defined. This chapter will describe the cytogenetic and molecular aberrations in ALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite effective initial therapy, the majority of adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who achieve a complete remission (CR) eventually relapse and usually within 2 years. Furthermore, approximately 20% of patients never achieve first complete remission (CR1). In these settings, alternative treatment strategies have limited efficacy and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), with generation of the potent immunologic reaction graft-vs.-leukemia (GVL) effect, is considered the best curative strategy. However, many patients do not have a suitable donor or are not candidates for transplantation. Therefore, the treatment of patients who relapse or are refractory to conventional initial therapy is challenging. The definition of refractory AML includes patients who fail conventional induction chemotherapy, those with a short (less than 6-12 months) CR1 duration, and patients who have relapsed twice or more [1]. This definition has been useful in defining relatively uniform populations of patients for clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a 14-year-old boy with a 2-month history of left leg pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carcinoid tumors originate from enterochromaffin cells, part of the diffuse endocrine system. Thus, they are considered to belong in the neuroendocrine group of tumors.1 They are a confusing group of tumors with a wide range of behavior. Carcinoid tumors may be located in any of a number of locations within and outside the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, may be single or multiple, may produce a wide array of biochemical products, may produce symptoms from the biochemical products or the tumor itself, and exhibit varying degrees of biochemical and aggressive behavior relative to their location. This section will focus on carcinoid tumors of the small bowel, appendix, colon, and rectum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]