Haematology

Haematology includes both benign and malignant diseases. Among the benign are different forms of cytopenias, both hereditary and aquired, such as anaemias, neutropenias and thrombocytopenias, as well as iron metabolism disorders. *The malignant haematologic diseases constitute a heterogeneous group of cancer diseases which are usually caused by uncontrolled growth of blood cells. In most cases it is immature stem cells that have lost their growth regulation and/or their ability to differentiate into mature effector cells of either the myeloid or the lymphoid lineages. Such loss of control may give rise to both acute and chronic leukemias with overproduction of white blood cells but also to myeloproliferativa neoplasms with over-production of red cells and/or platelets. Our clinical oriented research is centered on leukemias, but also includes myeloproliferativa neoplasms, cancer anemia and supportive care. Through preclinical drug development, and the conduction of clinical trials as well as establishment of cancer registries we aim to develop new treatment strategies and better supportive care for patients.

The research is conducted by a number of teams, being formed from the knowledge basis of the most important disease fields in haematology.Currently we focus on the following areas;

• Development and testing of new drugs and therapy strategies in malignant haematological diseases; acute myelogenous leukaemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, chronic myelogenous leukaemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma.

• Studies bases on the Swedish national, population based quality registries formalignant haematological diseases.
• Translational research in association with the regional biobank project U-CAN.
• Studies on myeloproliferativa neoplasms, cancer anaemia and supportive care.

An important part of the activities of the Haematology group is also leadership and participation in national and international research groups for initiating international studies, and for the development of treatment guidelines and Centres of clinical excellence.